For years, we have worked in two distinct spheres of Israeli civil society. One of us comes from the fields of political economy, labor markets, and the welfare state; the other from the worlds of sustainability, environmental policy, and the study of the limits to economic growth.
The organizations we lead—the Arlozorov Forum and the Heschel Center for Sustainability—have likewise tended to focus on different questions and, at times, even spoken in different professional languages. Yet the deeper we delved into our respective fields, the clearer it became that Israel's most pressing challenges do not conform to these disciplinary boundaries. The rising cost of living, the housing crisis, public transportation, food security, climate change, and mounting pressure on public services are not isolated problems. They are different expressions of the same underlying question: how can a society achieve prosperity, equity, and environmental sustainability while recognizing the finite nature of natural resources?
For that reason, we found particular value in the recently published Global Justice Report, produced by an international group of scholars led by economist Thomas Piketty. The report offers an integrated framework that brings together economics, society, and the environment, inviting policymakers and researchers alike to rethink the traditional divisions between these fields.
The report's principal contribution is its ambitious attempt to reconcile three objectives that are often treated as competing priorities: economic prosperity, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Much of the public debate surrounding climate change focuses on technological innovation, renewable energy, and carbon-pricing mechanisms. The report argues that while these measures are indispensable, they are insufficient on their own. A successful transition to a low-carbon economy, its authors contend, will not be possible without reducing economic inequality, strengthening public services, and ensuring that the benefits of the transition are broadly shared.
The report also calls for a fundamental rethinking of the concept of prosperity itself. Rather than measuring success primarily through growth in gross domestic product and consumption, it envisions an economy that increasingly directs resources toward education, healthcare, care work, culture, and leisure. It is therefore no coincidence that the report devotes significant attention to reducing working hours. At its core lies a broader inquiry into the true purposes of production, the amount of labor genuinely required, and the extent to which economic activity contributes to quality of life and long-term prosperity within planetary boundaries.
Even if one disputes some of the report's projections or policy recommendations, its relevance to Israel is difficult to ignore. Israel is among the developed world's longest-working societies. It faces substantial economic inequality, increasingly strained public services, and rapid population growth that intensifies pressure on land, transportation infrastructure, energy systems, and natural resources—all while occupying a geographic region particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Toward an Integrated Vision of Economy, Society, and Environment
At a time when Israel's public debate is once again dominated by discussions of the state budget, the cost of living, housing, national security, and, at times, climate change, it is striking how each of these issues continues to be addressed in isolation. Government decisions are made separately in each policy area, the opposition critiques them separately, and even political parties struggle to articulate a coherent worldview that integrates economic, social, and environmental priorities. Israeli decision-makers must redefine the development model the country intends to pursue over the coming decades.
This is precisely why deeper collaboration is now required between research institutes and policy organizations focused on socioeconomic issues and those working on climate change and the broader ecological crisis. The defining policy questions of the future lie at the intersection of these domains. Together, they form part of a broader framework that redefines the purpose of the economy beyond the pursuit of growth and ever-expanding consumption. A well-functioning economy should promote equality and fairness, strengthen both social and environmental resilience, and ensure that future generations enjoy living conditions at least as favorable as our own.
The Global Justice Report reminds us that for years we may have been asking the wrong question. Rather than asking only how to expand the economy, it is time to ask what kind of economy we want to build.
That is a question Israel can no longer afford to postpone.
Amit Ben-Tzur is CEO of the Arlozorov Forum. Dr. Oded Kinan is Co-CEO of the Heschel Center for Sustainability.