3. The Israeli authorities have confiscated the vast majority of Palestinian owned lands,
which has left the.minority with only about 2% of the country's lands, while 93% of all
lands in Israel are public lands under direct state control.The economic and spatial
interests of the Palestinians in general are not represented in the central government or its
powerful ministries. Although Palestinian inhabitants have the right to vote, to be elected
to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), they are outside of the governmental power and are
extremely weak in the parliamentary game in Israel.
4. Israel has a hierarchical and centralized planning system for the use of land. Palestinians
are extremely under represented at the level of government or at the national and district
levels of planning committees. Therefore, they have almost no control over their cities'
planning and economic development.
5. There are two economies in Israel: one is the well-developed, modern, Jewish economy,
which continues to advance.The other is the lagging, undeveloped Arab economy, which
has suffered from institutional discrimination for several decades.
6. The Palestinian minority employment rate in Israel is highly lower than that of Jews in
Israel, and this rate is one of the lowest in the world. As a result, the OECD countries
have confronted Israel with the important challenge of employing Arabs and closing the
gaps between Arabs and Jews in Israel in the economic arena.
7. The vast, ever increasing economic gaps between Jews and Arabs in Israel, which
exceed those in the OECD countries, are manifested in the following spheres
a. Approximately 50% of Arab families live below the poverty line compared with about
15% of Jewish families.
b. Only ,1% of the employees in the high-tech industry are Arab.
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