Ministry for Social Equality

The Ministry for Social Equality describes itself as a government headquarters body whose core purpose is reducing disparities in Israeli society by providing equal opportunities to all population groups.[5] Its published vision is to lead toward "a socially and economically resilient Israeli society that enables equal opportunity for every person" and to foster a society that reflects its diversity, empowers individuals and communities, and advances equal opportunity.[6]

The ministry has often operated as a coordinating and supervisory body alongside its direct service programs. It coordinates government ministries, supervises programs implemented by them, and initiates projects targeting particular population groups.[1] Ministry officials have argued that housing diverse population-focused authorities under one roof gives them a shared focus on reducing gaps; critics have questioned whether the varied units cohere around a single purpose.[1]

The ministry's stated areas of work have included older adults, Holocaust survivors, women's status, economic development in Arab society, young people, documentation of Jewish communities from Arab countries and Iran, the ultra-Orthodox sector, and LGBTQ populations.[5] Several of these responsibilities are linked to named authorities or divisions within the ministry, each with its own legislative basis and operational mandate.

The ministry began as the Ministry for Pensioners' Affairs and spent roughly 15 years linking and coordinating government bodies dealing with older adults, including the Interior, Welfare, Economy, Health and Finance ministries, the National Insurance Institute, the Population and Immigration Authority, and the Authority for Holocaust Survivors.[7] Over time it grew to include additional authorities serving different populations, and its mandate broadened to encompass the general goal of reducing social gaps and promoting equal opportunities.[1]

The Economic Development Authority for Minority Sectors, a key unit within the ministry, was established under Government Resolution 1204 on February 15, 2007.[5] Its stated aims included realizing the economic potential of minority populations, encouraging productive and business activity in their communities, supporting integration into Israeli society and the economy, and coordinating and monitoring relevant government programs.[5] The Digital Israel Bureau also came under the ministry's responsibility in 2015, having originally been established in the Prime Minister's Office; it was tasked with formulating a National Digital Program, coordinating cross-government work, and developing inter-ministerial partnerships.[8]

Meirav Cohen of Kahol Lavan served as Social Equality Minister in the 35th government, sworn in on May 17, 2020, and held the title "Minister for Social Equality and Pensioners" in the subsequent 36th government.[9][10]

In December 2015, the Israeli cabinet adopted Resolution 922, titled "Government Activity for Economic Development of Minority Populations in the Years 2016–2020." The Ministry for Social Equality was assigned inter-ministerial responsibility for implementing the plan, working in coordination with relevant ministries, the Finance Ministry's Budget Division, and Arab local authorities.[11] The plan aimed to promote the economic development and integration of Arab society in Israel and narrow socioeconomic gaps with the general population, with a focus on housing, transportation, education, employment, infrastructure, healthcare, and the capabilities of Arab local authorities.[11] It proposed government allocations of 20–40 percent — calibrated to the Arab population's proportion relative to other sectors — in areas including education, construction, infrastructure, and public transportation.[11]

Implementation was overseen through the Economic Development Authority, which managed an inter-ministerial steering committee with close involvement from the Finance Ministry's Budget Division.[12] During the first six months after approval, the Authority helped government ministries formulate work plans, presented plans to Arab local governments, and held a conference in Nazareth for local leaders, professional teams, and civil society organizations.[12] The plan pledged up to 15 billion shekels for economic integration and reducing societal gaps among Arab citizens.[2] In the first year, the government earmarked more than 2.1 billion shekels for implementation, including 424 million shekels for transportation and infrastructure, 91 million for expanding higher-education opportunities, and 215 million for industrial areas and support for small and medium-sized businesses.[2]

In October 2020, the cabinet extended the plan through the end of 2021 with an additional $500 million, beyond the original allocation of $2.96 billion.[13] Ofer Dagan, co-executive director of Sikkuy, assessed that the plan improved Arab women's integration into the workforce, expanded public transportation in Arab villages, and increased public trust and cooperation between Arab municipalities and the government.[13]

The ministry's supervisory role involved active intervention when implementation fell short. In one documented case, government representatives reported 100 percent budget utilization while officials from the city of Sakhnin told the ministry they had received only 20 percent of expected funds; the ministry then convened the local authority and relevant ministries to address the problem.[1] The ministry also mediated infrastructure disputes, including cases involving sewage flowing through streets in northern Bedouin communities.[1]

In late July 2021, the government approved an expansion of the powers of the Authority for the Economic Development of the Minority Sector to advance multi-year plans for socioeconomic development in the Arab sector.[14]

The ministry's Senior Citizens Division worked on older adults' rights and wellbeing, encompassing health and nursing care, welfare, housing, rights information, employment, adult education, leisure, and Holocaust-survivor services.[5] As of the 2022 report, Israel had approximately 1,162,000 older adults, about 12 percent of the population.[5] Ministry services for older adults included a help center serving hundreds of thousands each year, a national-service network of volunteers, a mobile rights-assistance unit, and hospital-based "Segula" units that help patients exercise their rights.[7]

The "Veterans at Work" program connected jobseekers aged 60 and older with employers, offering subsidies to employers for each older worker hired, provided the wage was at least 5 percent above the minimum wage and the person remained employed for at least six months.[15] Two months after its official launch, 913 people had found work from more than 5,000 registrants, and 200 employers had joined. The ministry set a goal of 3,000 placements and a NIS 10 million budget for the program.[15]

The Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, established under the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women Law of 1998, was a ministry unit whose purposes included promoting equality between women and men, coordinating relevant bodies, advancing education and legislation, examining proposed laws for gender-equality effects, and promoting prevention of violence against women.[5] It was also tasked with advising ministries, monitoring government action, collecting data, initiating research, and preparing reports connected to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.[5]

A ministry youth program established 80 young-person centers providing information and assistance on employment, social involvement, and higher education, at a total cost of NIS 28 million.[1] Approximately 45 percent of funding went to localities in socioeconomic clusters 1–3, 35 percent to clusters 4–5, and 20 percent to clusters 6–7. Less than 1 percent went to three cluster-8 localities, while clusters 9–10 received no funding. The ministry's contribution ranged from 30 to 90 percent depending on the locality's socioeconomic cluster, with more than 30 centers established in Arab society through the program.[1]

Digital Israel, operating within the ministry, received NIS 1.1 billion during 2016–2018 and was tasked with promoting digital public services and infrastructure, including remote services in education, health and welfare, digital health, smart cities, digital learning, and technological tools for small and medium-sized businesses.[16] The National Digital Program identified three primary goals: narrowing socioeconomic gaps, accelerating economic growth, and creating a friendly and smart government, with a stated policy period of 2017–2020.[8]

In July 2022, the government assigned the ministry responsibility for advancing the rights and interests of LGBTQ people, including dedicated services, public awareness, and community empowerment.[17] A ministry-supported project for religious LGBTQ men included subsidized individual therapy, therapist guidance, a listening line and therapy groups, social groups and workshops, and community-building activities such as holiday gatherings and Shabbat events.[17]

A 2021 Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research study recommended that the Ministry for Social Equality be one of five government bodies to collaborate in establishing a government rights-service center employing Russian speakers to explain benefits to Russian-speaking Israelis.[18] As of 2020, 192,200 Russian-speaking Israeli adults aged 65 or older made up 18 percent of Israel's older-adult population, and 76 percent of surveyed Russian-speaking seniors preferred to access their rights in Russian rather than Hebrew.[18]

The ministry's composition changed significantly and repeatedly between 2023 and 2024. Government Decision 40 in January 2023 transferred the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors and the authority for economic and social development of the ultra-Orthodox sector to the Prime Minister's Office.[19] Decision 59 later that month transferred Bedouin-development bodies from the Welfare Ministry into the Ministry for Social Equality.[19] Decision 109 in February 2023 transferred the Senior Citizens Division and Youth Authority to the Ministry of the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience.[19]

Government Resolution 433 of April 2, 2023 established a separate Ministry for the Advancement of the Status of Women and transferred the women's-status portfolio, including the relevant authority, from the Ministry for Social Equality.[3] Government Resolution 1316 of January 21, 2024 dissolved that separate ministry, returned the women's-status portfolio and the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women to the Ministry for Social Equality, and renamed it the Ministry for Social Equality and Advancement of the Status of Women.[3][4] At the same time, the Senior Citizens Division returned to the ministry, while the Bedouin-related bodies were transferred to the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs.[19]

The 2026 government work-plan document uses the Hebrew name המשרד לשוויון חברתי וקידום מעמד האישה (Ministry for Social Equality and Advancement of the Status of Women) and assigns the ministry work including social participation, violence-prevention initiatives, resource utilization in Arab local authorities, and programs for people aged 65 and older.[20] Its listed 2026 targets include 649 scholarships for student volunteers serving ministry target populations, participation by 200 local authorities in a violence-prevention initiative, and resource-utilization coordinators operating in 58 Arab local authorities.[20]

The ministry's institutional significance has rested largely on its ability to coordinate programs that cross the boundaries of conventional line ministries. By 2019, its annual budget had grown from NIS 50 million to more than NIS 1 billion, and its responsibilities included supervising programs implemented by other ministries as well as initiating projects for particular population groups.[1] Resolution 922 illustrated this model by giving the ministry inter-ministerial responsibility while implementation remained distributed among government ministries and Arab local authorities.[11]

The ministry has also served as an administrative home for authorities concerned with older adults, women, minority economic development, youth, digital inclusion, LGBTQ populations, and the heritage of Jewish communities from Arab countries and Iran.[5] The repeated transfer of these portfolios in 2023 and 2024 demonstrates both the breadth of its policy role and the instability of its organizational structure.[3][19]

Analysts have identified coordination fragmentation as a structural challenge for the ministry. Because separate ministries held responsibility for different programs while the Ministry for Social Equality had inter-ministerial oversight of Resolution 922 without control over every related program, concerns arose that the division could make coordination and synchronization more difficult.[11]

The five-year Arab-sector development plan drew qualified support from the Arab community, which welcomed the plan but expressed skepticism that authorities would fully implement it.[2] The plan also excluded mixed Jewish-Arab cities such as Lod and Ramle, as well as unrecognized Bedouin villages.[2]

Digital Israel, which received NIS 1.1 billion during 2016–2018, was subject to criticism from the State Comptroller, who identified implementation and oversight issues, including an interministerial steering committee that had met only three times and had not approved work plans for 2016 or 2018–2019.[16]

In 2024, amid government-wide budget reductions following the war, the ministry planned to reduce LGBTQ-related programs and services significantly.[21] Reports described cuts to programs including suicide prevention, out-of-home frameworks, reducing prostitution, promoting tolerance, and protecting children from online harm. The ministry stated it had been required to make cuts and would try to provide as comprehensive a response as possible.[21]

The ministry's broad mix of population-focused authorities also attracted scrutiny. Critics questioned whether its diverse units cohered around a single purpose, while ministry officials maintained that the arrangement produced meaningful coordination in support of equal-opportunity goals.[1]