Davar

Grass roots change

A decade of change: unionized labor in Israel. While government policy remains conservative, tectonic changes in Israel have led to a decline in inequality in the country | How has this happened? | Three graphs tell the story

By Jonathan Kershenbaum and Caden Feldman-Gubbay 0

A class at ORT Tiberias High School, archive. Credit: Moshe Shay/Flash90

70 faces of Torah study

"Judaism belongs to everyone"

Teaching Bible class in Israel: a secular-religious minefield. At a time when accusations of religious indoctrination are rife, Bible teachers at Israeli secular schools are convinced that without the Bible, we can't truly understand ourselves

By David Twersky and Miryam Holtzman 0

Israeli Arabs protest against violence, organised crime and recent killings in the Arab town of Majd al-Krum, Northern Israel. October 3, 2019. Photo by David Cohen/FLASH90

73 killed in 2019

Deadly crime wave

The economic aspect of the crisis Arab citizens of Israel are facing. Ja'afer Farah, head of the Mossawa Center: "What we really need is government policy to improve economic prospects for young Arabs and close the gaps between our communities and Jewish ones"

By Jonathan Kershenbaum and David Tversky 0

Cleaners in a medical center, Israel. Archive. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi /Flash90.

Workers' rights

Cleaning up the hospitals

The hidden revolution in the corridors of Israel's hospitals. For the past few years more and more temporary, low paid workers hired through contractors, Jews and Arabs alike, are taken on as regular (and unionized) employees in Israel's hospitals | Ending contracted employees one work place at a time

By Yael Elnatan 0

The Plenum Hall at the Knesset 2019. (Photo by Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Public spending

Who rules the budget?

The high price of the double elections: 1/12 budget in Israel. Israel's political chaos will cause an automatic 2 percent cutback on all public services | Spending decisions will be made by unelected officials, until a budget is passed by a future government

By Jonathan Kershenbaum 0

Emergency meeting of Internet and Tech union at Histadrut HQ following layoff announcement, 24th September 2019. Credit: Davar

White collar unions

Saved, for now

Telecom workers in Israel fought for their jobs - and won. A campaign led by Histadrut head Arnon Bar David, managed to shift the tide after two major telecom companies announced massive layoffs just before the high holidays

By Nizzan Zvi Cohen 0

Prisoners in jail. Archive photo, subjects not related to article. Photo by Moshe Shai/Flash90

Yom Kippur behind bars

Praying with sinners

The long road to rehabilitation in Israel's prisons. A. dealt in weapons, L. sold drugs | They both underwent a long rehabilitation process in prison | Can criminals truly repent?

By Anat Yurovsky and Yahel Faraj 0

Prisoners at the
Maasiyahu Prison. Archive. Augsut 1st, 2013. Photo by Moshe Shai/FLASH90

Yom Kippur

Therapy behind bars

Israel Prison Services paves the way for inmate rehabilitation. Col. Dafna Doueb: "I think that as a society we cannot allow ourselves to give up on these people. I believe that every step we help them take is important"

By Anat Yurovsky and Yahel Faraj 0

Kol Shofar factory in the Golan Heights. The art of producing shofars. (credit: Yael Elnatan)

Rosh Hashanah in Israel

The face behind the Shofar

In the Golan Heights, one man turned his passion for shofars into a vocation. As the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur approach, and the shofar blast attempts to open the gates of heaven, we set out to learn about shofar production at Shimon Keinan’s factory on Moshav Givat Yoav | What is a shofar made of? What makes a good shofar? And what do shofars have to do with Islam?

By Yael Elnatan 0

Rabbi Yisrael Lau at the 9th of Av Tent run by NOAL youth movement and Bnei Akiva, August 10, 2019 (Credit: Tom Vizel)

Judaism

“Fighting baseless hatred"

Baseless love: unity in the face of political division on the 9th of Av. In Israel's diverse political climate, getting these two polarized movements to commemorate the day dedicated to mourning the destruction of the temple and the beginning of the Jewish peoples' exile is an impressive deed- especially just before an election

By Nizzan Zvi Cohen 0

Workers in Harsa factory in Be'er Sheva in the south of Israel, briefed on the likelihood of their factory being closed down. The factory was moved to Turkey by the management.

Israeli economy

Prioritizing Israeli workers

Israeli courts rule against outsourcing of public sector jobs. Israeli courts rule against Ministry of Finance outsourcing public sector jobs despite the law giving Israeli based industries preference | Factories' closure threatens entire communities in Israel

By Omer Cohen 0

Israeli second graders using computers in a class room during a lesson at the Janusz Korczak school in Jerusalem. 2011. Photo by Kobi Gideon / Flash90.

School of economics

Inequality in the education system

Want your children to get a good education? Pay up. Israel was once a country benefiting from free education for all, allowing children of immigrants to become prospering and contributing members of society | Today, 22 percent of education funding comes from private sources- compared to the 15 percent OECD average

By David Tversky 0

What happens when a player has a signed contract but the management wants him out? (Shutterstock)

Fair play

Athletes of the world unite

Abusive working conditions for an athlete damage his career and his health. What happens when a player has a signed contract but the management wants him out? | Chen Dilmoni, player for Hapoel Haifa's soccer team, found out the hard way how an “outcast player” feels | How workers' rights is manifested in sports

By Lior Bartal 0

Cynthia Richburg prepares a product for shipment at an Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Enhancing solidarity

Unionized shopping

How should we, as organized workers, regard the arrival of Amazon to Israel? Put your money where your values are | The recent rise in numbers of unionized workers in Israel started in 2011, when the ideas of justice, solidarity and equality became popular again | It will keep growing only if we make sure that union members keep acting on their principles

By Keren Ofek 0

Histadrut unionization campaign with Palestinian construction workers at border crossing (Photo: Tal Burstein)

Solidarity

"Unionized labor recognizes no borders"

Over 5,000 new Histadrut members, all of them Palestinians. This summer, as part of an ongoing struggle to protect the lives of workers in the construction industry, Histadrut announced a campaign to raise awareness to workers' rights and safety in Israel | Nahad Sharliya, who headed the campaign: "A worker is a worker, no matter where he comes from, and he deserves his rights"

By Shai Nir 0