Arab womens socio-economic gaps and Jewish-Arab womens collaborations in Israel

Broadly speaking, because Arab and Jewish citizens tend to live in separate localities in Israel, speak different mother tongues and attend separate Hebrew and Arabic public school streams, it is possible and even common for Arab and Jewish women in Israel to lead full lives without a significant amount of meaningful interaction. While recent years have seen some important trends to the contrary – such as middle class Arab families moving into historically Jewish cities, greater integration of Arab women into the labor market, and significant enrollment of Arab women in higher education – separate social and professional spheres generally remain the norm. Only 40% of Arab women are employed in any form, and most of those work in or around their home community. While Israel’s Arab society is culturally and religiously diverse, many Arab women are part of traditional communities where travel, study or employment outside their home village are still restricted to various degrees by social norms.

Over the last two decades, the concept of shared society has taken root in Israel’s civil society organizations, many of which seek to ensure that Jewish and Arab citizens have equal access to Israel’s social and economic opportunities and have full legitimacy and opportunity to participate in and influence Israel’s public spheres. In parallel, the government of Israel has prioritized closing economic gaps between Arab and Jewish citizens and advancing economic development of Arab society.