Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last week complained about the lack of Arabs in government institutions and large companies in Israel, saying that it was the result of “a policy of discrimination. For sixty years in this country Arabs have suffered from institutional discrimination, and this is unacceptable,” Olmert said before a Knesset subcommittee that discussed the integration of Arabs in government work.
Olmert singled out the Bank of Israel and the Israel Electric Company as bastions of discrimination, saying that the situation there was “terrible. The difference in the percentage of Arabs in the country versus the number in the public service is worrisome. I am very uncomfortable with the fact that the state acted improperly for years on this issue. There is no question that there were offices and ministries that refused to hire Arabs.”
The subcommittee's chairman, MK Ahmed Tibi, said that Olmert's comments were “unprecedented.”
Olmert singled out the Bank of Israel and the Israel Electric Company as bastions of discrimination, saying that the situation there was “terrible. The difference in the percentage of Arabs in the country versus the number in the public service is worrisome. I am very uncomfortable with the fact that the state acted improperly for years on this issue. There is no question that there were offices and ministries that refused to hire Arabs.”
The subcommittee's chairman, MK Ahmed Tibi, said that Olmert's comments were “unprecedented.”