Knesset hears data on Israel’s Arab-Jewish health gap
A first-of-its-kind debate in the Knesset finally addressed long years of neglect of the Arab population's health by the Israeli authorities, but there's no reason to believe much will change.
Just before the Knesset began its summer recess on July 22, it held one of its most important discussions at the last parliamentary session on Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. The relatively poorer health of Israel's Arab population is another mark of the failure by all Israeli governments to eradicate discrimination against Arabs and promote equality.
The data presented at the discussion showed a worrisome rise in the number of diabetics in the Arab sector and a higher death rate of Arab women during childbirth when compared to the Jewish population, as well as shorter life expectancy. The medical testimony was further documentation of Israel's continued neglect of its Arab minority, which constitutes a fifth of the country’s population.
The initiator of the discussion was Ahmad Tibi, a veteran Arab Knesset member, a physician by profession and the chairman of the Arab Sector Employment and Social Equality Joint Committee. Tibi succeeded in bringing to the political and media agenda an item that has been ignored for many years.
Tibi truthfully announced that this was the first discussion of its type in the Knesset, even though studies and data are made public every year about the high rates of morbidity and fatality among Arab Israelis when compared to Jews. Yet until now, no systemwide governmental action has been taken to curb the phenomenon.
