Stratification in Israel by Moshe Semyonov

Author:Moshe Semyonov [Semyonov, Moshe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Jewish Studies, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781351323390
Google: cFAPEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-01-22T03:45:47+00:00

The Period of Conditional Exclusion (1948–1966)

Following the establishment of Israel, a Military Government was imposed on the Palestinian populated areas that lasted until 1966. Under this regime, the Palestinians were not allowed to leave their localities without a special permit. The massive Jewish immigration during the first three years of the statehood, which doubled the country’s population, coupled with severe economic difficulties, led to the creation of high rates of unemployment. To ensure that Jewish laborers got priority in receiving employment, and to prevent a situation in which they had to compete with Palestinian workers, the Military Government’s objectives were altered. Regulating the entrance of Palestinian workers into the Jewish labor market was substituted for preventing Palestinian refugees and citizens who were evicted from returning to their villages of origin. The policy of granting work permits to Palestinians was, thus, dictated by the need of the state/Jewish sector for working hands (Wiemer 1983). The Histadrut helped until 1960 in the implementation of this policy through its fight against unorganized (Palestinian) workers (Jiryis 1976). This conditional exclusion of the Palestinians from the labor market had two implications: first, it made the continuity of the “Hebrew Work” ideology possible, and second, it converted the Palestinian labor force to a reserve army of labor for the Israeli economy.

Under these conditions the Palestinians were compelled to rely on local agriculture for their livelihood. Despite the massive confiscation, by the state, of Palestinian-owned land,3 and the relocation of 10 percent of the Palestinians who became refugees in other localities (Rosenfeld 1978; Kamen 1987, p. 469), more than 53 percent of the Palestinian workforce was employed in 1956 in local agriculture4(CBS 1957, table 6).

The conditions in the labor market changed in the period 1955–1964. The spectacular economic growth in this period, epitomized by an average annual increase of the GNP of 10 percent, and an annual increase in export of 18 percent (Aharoni 1991, p. 234), led to a growing demand for new recruits to the expanding labor market. This rapid expansion of the economy, which was triggered by the import of capital by the state, mainly from West Germany, resulted in a dramatic increase in public expenditure, especially on developing the infrastructure, and on construction projects.5 To mobilize the Palestinian workers to the state/Jewish labor market, gradual relaxations of the restrictions imposed on their movement were introduced.

This had two implications for the employment of the Palestinians. Firstly, it brought about a gradual decline in hidden unemployment in local agriculture; hence the number of those employed in this sector declined between 1956 and 1961 from 53 percent to only 38 percent of the labor force. Secondly, the Palestinians were employed in the insecure construction sector. For example, between 1956 and 1961, the Palestinian labor force grew by 10,000 workers, half of which was absorbed in construction (CBS 1957, table 6; 1963, table 30). The inflow of Palestinians into this sector, which was the stronghold of the “Hebrew Work” during the Mandate, led to an outflow of

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