A fact that may only interest me

Posted By Daniel W. Drezner Wednesday, January 20, 2010 - 3:25 PM Share

Every fifth Israeli is twice as poor as the average person in OECD member states. Most of the poor come from Arab and ultra-orthodox communities, where poverty rises to 50 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

From a Ha'aretz story on Israel's membership application to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

For more information, check out the OECD's 2009 survey of Israel, and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria's remarks. Given David Brooks' recent column, I find it particularly interesting that Gurria said, "firms are overly hampered by regulation, especially for start-ups."

EXPLORE:AREA STUDIES, GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY, ISRAEL

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ZYH

2:53 AM ET

January 21, 2010

It's the education...

To me, the most important point made by Gurria is related to the education system. The resources devoted to education (both basic and higher) have dwindled in the last three decades. They were shifted to the Settlements and other parochial interests, in no small part "thanks" to Netanyahu himself. While Israel should proud of its achievements in science and hi-tech, I am afraid that this success is unlikely to continue for more than a generation (unless education becomes a priority again).

NORWEGIAN SHOOTER

3:41 AM ET

January 26, 2010

I guess you were right about that

But that's too bad, in the end it's just another in a long list of things we don't understand about Israel.