Israel is often regarded by both insiders and outsiders as a society divided along sharp sectoral lines, be it Arab and Jewish, Ultra-Orthodox and secular, or left and right. Indeed, in a country of less than 9 million people, entire communities exist without ever crossing paths and in many cases, without speaking the same language. But the common cry of discrimination used by Israel’s detractors is nothing short of absurd; every citizen of Israel is guaranteed equal right to life and liberty under strong democratic law, despite their differences.
To fully understand the diversity and equality safeguarded within Israeli society, naysayers would do well to look to the very place where life and liberty is at stake: the health care system. This is more than just a microcosm of Israeli society as a whole; it is also a shining example of coexistence deserving of recognition and emulation.
Anyone who has ever stepped foot in an Israeli hospital or pharmacy can attest to this, and the statistics speak for themselves. The Israeli healthcare system is the seventh most efficient globally, despite operating under notable budgetary constraints; health care is universal and medical insurance compulsory, and life expectancy is the eighth highest in the world. Underscoring this is the fact that among both medical patients and professionals, equality is key and assured.
Let’s look at some numbers. Israeli Arabs, for example, comprise a total of 20 percent of the country’s population, and is accordingly represented as such among professionals in the medical fields. The National Insurance Institute found in a 2015 report that Arab citizens make up 21.7 percent of employees in the Israeli health system, including 11 percent of doctors, and 14 percent of occupational therapists. Notably, the numbers also include 38 percent of pharmacists – nearly 1/3 of all professionals in that field, and a representation of nearly double its total population percentage. Sixteen percent of all medical students in Israel are Arabs, and at the prestigious Technion Institute of Technology, enrollment in medical studies reach nearly 38 percent from that sector; 43 percent of pharmaceutical students in Israel are Arabs, and at Hebrew University, the sector accounts for 48 percent – nearly half – of all students in that field. These percentages do not even take into account the number of Arabs citizens who travel abroad to Egypt, Jordan, or Eastern Europe to study medicine, and then return to Israel to practice.
The diverse representation of patients in Israeli hospitals is also ever clear, with Muslims, Christians, Jews, and patients from all over the world lying side by side in the wards. Israeli soldiers and terror victims are treated in the same hospitals as those who wound them; Palestinians are routinely brought in from Gaza and the West Bank, and more than 3,000 Syrians have found treatment in Israel since 2013.
Late last year, after an intensive tour visiting with Jewish communities around the world, I was hospitalized for a treatable ailment at Itzhak Shamir Medical Center (formerly known as Assaf Harofeh Medical Center) in central Israel and experienced this diversity firsthand. The hospital sits 15 kilometers from Tel Aviv, straddling the borders of the mixed-Jewish Arab cities of Ramle and Lod, and also Rishon Letzion, Israel’s fourth largest city, heavily populated by immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. More than 2/3 of all patients come from the lower economic strata. All receive the same top-of-the line treatment, regardless of religion, economic status, language, or any other factor. During my stay there, my vitals were checked by a Russian-born nurse in the morning and an Israeli-born in the afternoon; my doctors were a mix of Arabs and Jews; the patient in the room next to me was an inmate from the nearby Ayalon Prison; and the entire institution runs under the leadership of Israel’s first female hospital director, Dr. Osnat Levzion-Korach.
Itzhak Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) is not an isolated case; similar statistics and experiences can be found at dozens of the more than 85 medical centers in Israel, particularly in the peripheral regions in Galilee, Negev, and Jerusalem, where the population is notably varied; the general director of the Western Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, for example, is another reflection of this heterogeneity: Dr. Massad Barhoum, a Christian Arab raised in multicultural Haifa.
The World Jewish Congress represents more than 100 Jewish communities on six continents, each unique in tradition, history, language, and political discourse. Despite our differences, we share an identity as a global community, in which the State of Israel and its security play a central role.
Just as Jews around the world are one united people, regardless of language or tradition, so are all citizens of Israel. Israel is, like any other state, imperfect; but any claim of it it being systemically repressive or oppressive of its minorities is completely detached from reality.
Israel is a vibrant democracy committed to the welfare of each of its citizens, with a structure in place guaranteeing full equality, representation and liberty for all. There is much room for improvement in bridging societal divides, but the Israeli health care system is proof that tolerance and equality can and do thrive; it is the prescription for coexistence.
Robert R. Singer is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the World Jewish Congress