City Travelers

Jerusalem residents travel the least. Only about 40% of the residents of Jerusalem took a vacation in Israel and less than one-third (31%) went on vacation abroad. Tel Aviv shows the highest rate of vacationers: about 60% vacationed in Israel, and a higher rate of 65% traveled abroad. 

Sick? Injured? Get to your Health Fund

Lior Regev

The final months of 2017 were tough on the health of the people in Zion. The winter, or more precisely the lack of winter, and the accompanying dryness, made their mark on the parents and children who suffered together. The frequent flus, and the viruses and germs that never let up and were constantly on the attack, wore everyone down. According to an article by Rotem Elizera published on Ynet (in Hebrew), they caused an increase of 10 percent in the sick days taken by workers in Israel, in comparison to 2016.

Goodbye Organic Garbage, Hello Compost

Lior Regev

In the small country of Israel, garbage is a big problem. The unsorted waste that we throw in the trash is collected by trucks that move it to sorting stations, and at the end of the process much of it is transported to landfills. The trucks' journeys through the city streets require energy, contribute to air pollution and traffic jams, while the landfills take up large amounts of space that could be used for better purposes. One of the solutions to the mountains of waste is separation at source.

Over the past decade, an increasing number of composters have been springing up in public parks, building courtyards, and private homes in Jerusalem. A composter is a container for organic waste, such as scraps of fruits and vegetables and other organic matter, which comprises some 40% of household waste. This organic matter decomposes in the composter and can be used as fertilizer in gardens.

The distribution of compost bins in Jerusalem began in 2008, at the initiative of residents of the Beit Hakerem neighborhood who came together as a non-profit organization. In 2012, the "MahapchYarok (Green Revolution)" – which is responsible for dissemination of information, sale of containers, and operation and maintenance of composters, received municipal recognition and support from the Ginot Ha'ir Community Council and the Municipality. Today, according to data supplied by "MahapchYarok" via director of the initiative Jonathan Plitmann, more than 5,400 households in Jerusalem make use of the containers, either frequently or occasionally. The containers may be divided into the following four categories: containers that operate in parks and schools; containers located in apartment buildings; composters that operate in community gardens and other public spaces; and containers used in private households.

A Secondhand Car from Jerusalem?

Lior Regev

According to data from the Israel Vehicle Importers Association, the year 2016 saw a record high in the delivery of vehicles in Israel. The purchase of new vehicles contributes to the replenishing of the stock of vehicles that travel on Israel's roads: new vehicles equipped with sophisticated safety systems, which emit lower levels of pollution, and are quieter and more economical. However, as long as the purchase of new vehicles is not balanced out by old vehicles being taken off the roads, this isn't necessarily good news. The general rise in the number of vehicles leads to increased congestion on the roads, which in turn leads to an increase in the transportation burden and emissions of pollutants, and further irritates the already frayed nerves of the Israeli driver.

In light of these implications, it is interesting to see where car inventory is renewed and where it lags behind with aging vehicles. With respect to the big cities, the answer seems clear – according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2016, about 40% of the cars whose owners live in Jerusalem were a decade old or older. That is in comparison with 25% of the vehicles in the entire country, 21% in Haifa, 15% in Tel Aviv, and 14% in Rishon Lezion.

The aging of the vehicle inventory in Jerusalem also stands out in terms of the average ages of the vehicles: In Jerusalem the figure stands at 8.6 years. The average in the country is 6.5, with the figure standing at 5.9 in Haifa, 4.8 in Tel Aviv, and 4.6 in Rishon Lezion.

When we examine the annual purchasing trends, dramatic gaps are revealed between Jerusalem and the other large cities. It seems that the newest vehicles of all are driven on the roads of Rishon Lezion: Nearly half (47%) of all the vehicles in the city reached the road between 2014 and 2016, as compared to 43% of the vehicles in Tel Aviv, and a third (33%)of the vehicles in Haifa. The parallel figure in Jerusalem stands at 16%. A review of the previous year reveals that 18% of the vehicles in Rishon Lezion reached the road in 2016, as opposed to 16% in Tel Aviv, 12% in Haifa, and 6% in Jerusalem.

We tried to find various explanations for this phenomenon. Maybe it's the leasing companies that are registered in the center of the country and work tirelessly to renew their inventory; or it might be the result of the generous credit loans and the low interest rates that the banks offered the buyers (the ones that Avi Bar-Eli and Oren Dori wrote about in January 2017 in an article in TheMarker). It may be that unlike the benefits granted in personal contracts from private companies in the central part of the country that encourage the purchase of a new car, the tax benefits in the public sector in Jerusalem and the weak buying power of the residents, encourage people to hold onto their old cars.

Or maybe it's just the Jerusalem nostalgia, the difficulty to disconnect from the past and to embrace change – as embodied in the renowned pun and prohibition against any change to customary Orthodox practice, that "new is forbidden by the Torah," written by the Chatam Sofer in the 1800s – or the innate modesty, and the god-fearing nature of Jerusalemites, that cause its residents to cling to a 1989 Subaru. Perhaps.

Translation: Gilah Kahn

Back to School

Lior Regev

After the long summer vacation, followed by the period of the High Holidays, more than 2,272,000 pupils finally return to school and to their regular routines.

The education system in Israel reflects Israeli society as a whole, comprising all the streams and different groups that exist within it. According to the document, "The Education System in Israel – Central Issues Discussed in the Committee for Education, Culture and Sport" of the Knesset Research and Information Center, 2013, written by Ety Weissblay, the education laws in Israel recognize three types of institutions: official education, comprising institutions owned by the state in the state education stream, the state-religious education stream, and in recent years also the state-Ultra-Orthodox education stream; recognized education that is not official, comprising institutions that are not owned by the state, mostly schools belonging to Ultra-Orthodox school systems or other Ultra-Orthodox institutions; or institutions that have an exempt status, mostly Talmud Torah schools for boys.

The Ministry of Education recently published a list of all the educational institutions under its supervision (the list is updated to 2015). An examination of the years when the Hebrew education institutions were founded, and the number of students who attended them, reveals some interesting points.

The oldest schools are the Alliance School in Haifa, which according to the records was founded in 1860, and the schools belonging to Beit Yisrael (both general studies and religious studies schools) in Tel Aviv, established in 1870. The list shows that the total number of schools founded before the establishment of the state was 84, and they were attended by 64,360 pupils. At the other end of the spectrum, each year a few dozen new schools are opened. For example, in 2014, 112 schools were established, and the previous year the number was 118.

In recent decades, a trend can be identified in the increasing number of Ultra-Orthodox educational institutions being opened. The need to open these institutions is the result of the high natural increase in the population among the Ultra-Orthodox sector, where more children are born every year. The percentage of Ultra-Orthodox schools founded since 1990, from the total number of schools in the Ultra-Orthodox stream, stands at 91% in Israel (not including Jerusalem), and 86% in Jerusalem. During these years there was a significant increase in the schools in the independent school systems as well as state recognition of these schools, and these changes have left their mark on the education system.

In the state education schools the percentage of new schools is lower, and the findings for these schools are based more on veteran institutions, with 45% of all the state education schools in Israel founded before 1970, and 38% of these schools being located in Jerusalem. Compared with the rest of the country, more schools in the state education stream in Jerusalem were founded between 1970 and 1990:  27% state education schools and 25% state religious education schools in Jerusalem, as compared to 20% and 21% respectively, in the rest of the country. This data correlates with the establishment of new neighborhoods and the expansion of Jerusalem following the Six Day War.

Translation: Gilah Kahn

Safe Travels

Lior Regev

Israel’s roads are the most congested among all OECD countries. Residents of and visitors to Israel’s major cities are well aware of this congestion: every morning long lines of cars grace each junction and interchange in and around the city. Experts in the field have increasingly promoted public transportation as the best solution to the city’s traffic problems, and in recent years the government has invested heavily in this area. The question is whether the residents of Israel’s cities feel the impact of these investments.

The findings of the Central Bureau of Statistics’ Social Survey (average for 2014-15) indicate that 66% of Israel’s residents aged 20 and above commute to work primarily by private vehicle, motorcycle, or carpool. For about 20%, the main mode of transportation is a train or bus, and 10% ride a bicycle or walk to work (the remainder work from home or commute by unknown means).
There are interesting differences between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in this regard. While the proportion of those who commute by vehicle or carpool is comparable in both cities (50% and 51%, respectively), the use of public transportation is much more prevalent in Jerusalem: 33% of Jerusalem’s residents rode the train or a bus to work, compared with only 26% in Tel Aviv. Biking and walking are more prevalent in Tel Aviv, where 17% of the residents commute to work by bicycle or foot.

The differences stem, evidently, from Tel Aviv’s more manageable topography and convenient concentration of workplaces. Jerusalem, by contrast, is hilly and spread out, and the distance between its residential and business zones might explain its residents’ preference for public transportation. The low rate of car ownership among the Haredi population is also, presumably, a contributing factor.

The use of public transportation in Jerusalem is in fact the highest among Israel's large cities. Among the other major cities, the rate varies from 22% (in Be’er Sheva) to 29% (in Netanya). Jerusalem is the only city where the rate exceeds 30%.
The frequency of use of public transportation is also higher in Jerusalem. In 2015, about 19% of Israel’s residents reported that they ride a bus on a daily basis; that is, buses were their main means of transport. This rate is higher in the major cities than in the suburban and rural areas: in Haifa it stood at 26%, in Rishon LeZion at 25%, in Tel Aviv at 23%, and in Jerusalem the rate was 32%.

Translation: Merav Datan

Business Arnona

Lior Regev

Arnona (municipal tax) is the main source of regular income for Israel’s local authorities, including the Jerusalem Municipality. Residential Arnona, however, does not typically cover the cost of the municipal services provided to residents. The rate for non-residential properties differs from the rate for residential homes. For this reason, local authorities compete for Arnona from businesses: businesses pay more and use relatively few municipal services.

Which part of the city generates the most Arnona for the Municipality of Jerusalem?

The amount generated depends on the types and sizes of properties in each part of the city. For example, places of religious worship pay the low rate of NIS 63 per square meter, while offices and commercial businesses larger than 150 square meters pay the high rate of NIS 334 per square meter. Because the amount due is determined by square meters, the larger the property, the higher the Arnona. In some cases, the rate is further affected by the size of the property: if it is beyond a certain threshold, the cost per meter rises. And in some cases, the location can also affect the rate.

By cross-referencing the number of properties and the Arnona revenues they generated in 2016, we can identify several phenomena. The revenues from the Mahane Yehuda market and Malha mall areas are comparable, at NIS 25 and 28 million, respectively, before discounts. Yet the number of non-residential properties in the Mahane Yehuda area stands at 1,600, compared with only 300 in the Malha mall area – a five-fold difference (!). The reason apparently lies in the large number of small businesses in the market area, in contrast to the mix of businesses in the mall, which has many regional or national commercial franchises.

Moreover, the rumors about the death of the City Center evidently overstated the situation. About 1,670 businesses operate in the triangle formed by the Ben-Yehuda Street, Jaffa Road, and King George Street, generating some NIS 44 million for the city, before discounts.

The largest Arnona-generating areas are the industrial and commercial zones of Talpiot and Giv’at Sha’ul. In recent years the mix of properties in both zones has been continuously diversifying. Today they house auto-repair shops, stores and places of commerce, business offices, some remaining traditional industries, and the beginnings of knowledge-intensive industries. Interestingly, the number of non-residential properties in Talpiot is larger than the number in Giv’at Sha’ul by nearly 1,000 (2,518 compared with 1,548), yet the difference in income generated amounts to only NIS 7 million (105 compared with 98 million, before discounts).

Translation: Merav Datan

The apartment is always bigger on the other side

Lior Regev
Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research en.jerusaleminstitute.org.il

A few months ago the 2017 Arnona (municipal tax) invoice landed in our mailboxes. Next to the total payment due, the invoice notes the size of our apartment, at least as it appears on the municipal registry.

Arnona taxes are one of the main revenue sources for local authorities in Israel, enabling a range of services for residents. Besides size of property, what determines Arnona rates is the property’s use, namely, residential, commercial, services, and the like. Jerusalem has four Arnona districts, each with a different rate per square meter.

As a general trend, apartment sizes in Israel have been steadily increasing over the years. Crumbling public housing, where three children shared a bedroom, might have sufficed in the past, but today every toddler demands a private room. Moreover, living rooms have become a permanent and ever-expanding fixture. And why make do with one bathroom, when we can have two? It is interesting to look at the repercussions of this trend for planning in Jerusalem.

Residential buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s offered relatively small apartments. The times demanded housing for hundreds of thousands of new immigrants, and the budget was scant. As of 2015, 56% of the apartments in Kiryat Yovel, 34% in Kiryat Menachem and Ir Ganim, and 43% in the Gonen (Katamon) neighborhoods (A-I) were smaller than 60 square meters (m2).

A decade later, in the 1970s and 1980s, there began to be constructed the large satellite neighborhoods, designed in advance with larger apartments. In 2015, 54% of apartments in the French Hill, 55% in Gilo, and 57% in Neve Yaakov were 61-100 m2 in size. In Ramat Eshkol, another neighborhood constructed during this period, about 60% of the apartments were in this size range. Interestingly, apartment sizes vary among the neighborhoods built during those years because the planners wanted to attract diverse groups. Apartments in the range of 61-80 m2 account for 41% in Neve Yaakov, 40% in Ramat Eshkol, and only 20% in the French Hill.

Jumping forward to the 1990s and 2000s, the trend towards larger apartments continues unimpeded. In two neighborhoods built during those years, Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa, most apartments exceed 80 m2 (82% and 74%, respectively). For the sake of comparison, only 3% of apartments in Ramat Shlomo and 2% in Har Homa are smaller than 60 m2.

So how big will apartments be in years to come?

Translation: Merav Datan

What Would You Like to Buy?

Lior Regev

Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research en.jerusaleminstitute.org.il

One of the indices of a country’s economic status is the rate of ownership of durable goods. Durable goods are purchased once every few years and include, for example, furniture, cars, or electric appliances such as a refrigerator, stove, or washing machine. In the modern capitalist economy, which relies on the market system and private property, ownership of durable goods serves as an indicator of a household’s economic welfare and standard of living.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) conducts an annual survey that examines ownership of various goods and services, among other factors (Survey of Household Expenditures). The list of goods whose ownership the CBS examines is updated annually, in accordance with economic development and technological preferences. A review of previous surveys finds that in the past it examined ownership of video players, which was later updated to DVD players. Perhaps future surveys will examine ownership of wrist-band microchips that project movies onto walls….

For some goods, increasing ownership rates corresponded with a rising standard of living, but the increase over the years was gradual. For example, the percentage of Israeli households that owned at least one vehicle was 55% in 1999, 58% in 2005, 62% in 2009, and 65% in 2014.

A comparison across cities finds that differences in vehicle ownership rates are relatively small. In 2005, 50% of Jerusalem households owned a vehicle – very comparable to rate for Tel Aviv (50%) and slightly lower than the rate for Haifa (53%). A decade later, in 2014, 60% of Tel Aviv households owned a vehicle – comparable to the rate for Haifa (61%) and higher than the rate for Jerusalem, at only 56%. The relative consistency of vehicle ownership rates reflects the high cost of owning this means of transportation and the economic stratification of households in Israel.

For other goods, ownership rates saw a dramatic increase over the years, as well as differences across various cities. The most salient example is air conditioners, which were seen historically as less necessary in Jerusalem given its comfortable climate relative to cities in central Israel. In 1999, for example, only 12% of Jerusalem households reported owning an air conditioner, compared with 42% in Tel Aviv and 39% in Haifa.

The rising standard of living alongside global warming has transformed air conditioners from a luxury item into a good that is essential for surviving the interminable Israeli summer. In 2014, a decisive majority (94%) of Tel Aviv households reported that they own an air conditioner. In Haifa the rate was 84%, comparable to the figure for Israel (82%). Jerusalem, too, has shown a significant increase in recent years, from 41% in 2009 to 60% in 2014, but it still has a long way to go to catch up with the coastal cities.

Translation: Merav Datan

Mobile Reception

Lior Regev
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies   www.jiis.org

Lately, with the increased use of smart phones, the cellular device is playing a growing part in our lives. Our dependency on cell phones has sky rocketed, with its diversity of uses. Hananel Rosenberg, from the Institute for the Study of New Media, Politics and Society at Ariel University, mentions some of them, including news, entertainment, games, calendar, documents, transit times, navigation, social networks, and of course – talking.

Ownership rate of cell phones in Israel is high by any standard. According to the Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem 2016 (table VI/4), 91% of households in Israel had at least one mobile phone in 2014. The data for the large cities are slightly higher with 93%, 96% and 98% in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, respectively. Data do not exist specifically regarding smart phones, but estimations of ownership rate vary between 64% and 72%.
One situation that some of us may recall, perhaps from army service, is the search for an area with good cellular reception. Lack of reception is common in far away areas, but it might also be encountered in a central area, and even in the middle of town. The common desire for good cellular coverage comes with ambivalence, as the radiation from antennas and devices is a major health concern, mainly with children.
According to the Ministry for Environmental Protection, as of January 2016, active broadcasting cellular antennas in Israel numbered 8,696. Among the large cities, Tel Aviv had the widest coverage, supplied by 939 antennas. Jerusalem, with a much larger land area, had 673; Haifa had 391; and Rishon LeZion had 228. It may be assumed that the concentration of businesses and economic strength of Tel Aviv led to the good cellular coverage.
The break down according to cellular companies, or carriers, reveals that the three major companies—Partner, Pelephone, and Cellcom—had similar shares of the antennas infrastructure: 29%, 28%, and 27%, respectively. Hot Mobile held 15% of the antennas, and Golan Telecom had one percent, almost only in Tel Aviv.
The distribution is somewhat similar in the large cities: In Jerusalem Cellcom holds the largest share of 29% of active antennas, with Partner and Pelephone holding 28% and 26% respectively; in Tel Aviv and Haifa, Partner holds a bit of a wider share, with 32% and 31% respectively; Cellcom and Pelephone hold 28% and 25% of Haifa's antennas, respectively, and both companies each hold 24% of Tel Aviv's antennas.

Take the Keys but It’s Registered in My Name

Lior Regev

Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies 

 www.jiis.org

Last August, after years of planning and delays, work began on the first line (the Red Line) of the light rail in Metropolitan Tel Aviv. The complex infrastructure works that are taking place in the heart of the metropolis have raised concerns and tempers among merchants and business owners worried about loss of income and clients. The efforts it took to build and operate the light rail in Jerusalem teach us that the process of constructing a public transportation route in a built-up area that serves as an urban center can be expected to involve difficult labor pains.

Although it has improved in recent years, the municipal public transportation system here is not as developed as that of cities in Western Europe. The limited mobility, in addition to lack of public transportation on Saturday, leads many to purchase a private vehicle. According to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2014 more than 2.1 million vehicles were registered in Israel. Some 83% (close to 1.8 million) of these were private cars (neither public nor commercial), and the remainder comprised taxicabs, trucks, buses, minibuses, and two-wheeled vehicles. 

In terms of locality, evidently even though Jerusalem has 23,000 more households than Tel Aviv (210,000 and 186,000, respectively), the number of private cars registered in Jerusalem is about 25% lower than the number for Tel Aviv (161,000 for Jerusalem compared with 214,000 for Tel Aviv).

Rishon LeZion – presumably because it is a suburb where many residents work in the metropolis – holds the record for the number of private cars per household, with an average of 1.18 cars per household. Tel Aviv is next, with 1.15 cars per household, and Haifa is in third place at 0.93. The average number of cars per household in Jerusalem is 0.77, slightly higher than the average for Israel, at 0.76.

One can imagine several reasons for the higher number of cars in Tel Aviv: Jerusalem residents are less wealthy on average and therefore less able to handle the expenses of a car. Additionally, Tel Aviv constitutes a center of business, and a profile of its residents includes more workers in free trades, who are willing and able to pay for increased mobility and time saved. 

But this is only a partial explanation. Traffic jams are the lot of any city such as Tel Aviv, the core city of a metropolis, just as other core cities throughout the world have to cope with ongoing traffic congestion. In other words, if you live in the inner city, a car might not necessarily improve your mobility in getting around the city, certainly not if a light rail line is being installed. Another reason lies in the system of registering vehicles by address.

The CBS classifies vehicles according to the address of the owner. For this reason, many cars are registered in Tel Aviv, when in fact they are registered in the name of private companies that operate in the city. These are in addition to state-owned cars and cars on lease. In sum, the number of cars in a city provides a direct measure of economic activity in the city, and serves as another indicator of the economic strength of the city.

Youth Movements in Jerusalem

Lior Regev

It is often said that the youth of today differ from the youth of the past – that the current generation, raised in the lap of the internet and smart phone, is glued to the monitor, holed up in its room, and communicates through icons.

Many perceive youth movements as a relic of a past world that embodied activities outside the home, the spirit of cooperation, friendship, love of the land, initiative, and care for other. In 2006, the last year in which a national survey took place, the number of youth movement members in Israel stood at 176,000. According to the Ministry of Education's list of recognized youth movements, a total of 13 movements operated in Israel in 2014. 

In 2015 a total of 11 youth movements operated in the Jewish sector in Jerusalem. The movements reflect the social diversity of the city's population: four are secular (HaTzofim – the Scouts; HaNo'ar HaOved VeHalomed – Students and Young Workers; HaShomer HaTza'ir – the Youth Guard; and HaMahanot HaOlim – Immigrant/Ascending Camps); two national-religious movements (Bnei Akiva and Ariel); one youth movement affiliated with the traditional-religious movement (No'am – Traditional-Religious Youth); and four ultra-orthodox movements (Bnot Batya; Pirchei HaDegel; Heichalei Oneg; and Ezra). 

The youth movements receive support from the Ministry of Education and the Jerusalem Municipality, with the size of the movement serving as one of the determinants for the extent of support. It is difficult to assess the number of members, given the changing and fluid nature of participation in activities. The data are therefore based on the movements' own reports to the Social Services Department of the Jerusalem Municipality.

The movement Bnot Batya is exceptionally large, numbering 17,410 girls in 2015. The reason for this is the inclusive nature of ultra-orthodox education, in which the movement serves a complementary educational function within the Beit Yaakov network of schools. The second largest movement is also ultra-orthodox in nature – Pirchei HaDegel – with a membership of 4,578 boys, ages 9-13. Taking into account the memberships of Ezra (2,042) and Heichalei Oneg (890), we find that the total number of youth movement members in the ultra-orthodox sector is the highest in the city, at 24,920. 

Bnei Akiva is the third largest youth movement in Jerusalem, and the largest within the national-religious sector. In 2015 it had 3,881 members. Taking into account the membership of Ariel (1,493), we find that the total membership in national-religious movements is 5,374.

Among secular youth movements, HaNo'ar HaOved VeHalomed is the largest, in part because of its widespread activity in East Jerusalem neighborhoods within the Arab sector. In 2015 it had a total of 3,495 participating members. HaTzofim, which is the largest movement in the country as a whole in terms of membership, ranks second in size after HaNo'ar HaOved VeHalomed in Jerusalem, with 2,484 members. Taking into account the memberships of HaShomer HaTza'ir (2,240) and HaMahanot HaOlim (282), we find that the total membership in secular youth movements is 8,501.

No'am, which operates in the spirit of the traditional-religious movement, has 233 members, making it the smallest of the youth movement categories in the city's Jewish sector. 

I wish to thank Louis Goldberg, Director of the Research and Development Department in the Society and Youth Division of the Jerusalem Municipality, for the data and his help.

Sources

· Louis Goldberg, Research and Development Department Director, Culture and Arts Manager, Municipality of Jerusalem

· List of recognized youth movements funded by the Ministry of Education in 2014, Ministry of Education website

· Sheleg Mey-Ami, N. (2010). Youth Movements in Israel. Knesset Research and Information Center

· Websites of youth movements: HaTzofim, HaShomer HaTza'ir, HaMahanot HaOlim, HaNo'ar HaOved VeHalomed, Bnei Akiva, Ariel, and Ezra.

May I Take Your Order?

Lior Regev

Most of the Jewish population in Israel keeps kosher. The 2009 Social Survey conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, which focused on religion and religiosity, found that 64% of Jewish respondents (age 20 and above) stated that they keep kosher to a large or very large extent.

Recently the issue of kashrut has surfaced as a factor that contributes to the cost of living in Israel. Restaurants and other eating establishments that seek to attract customers who keep kosher are required to meet the restrictions of kashrut established by the State of Israel, which are enforced by the Chief Rabbinate and its agents in local religious councils. In Jerusalem the issue of kashrut is often perceived as part of the discourse on the character of the city. In 2011 a communal kashrut initiative began to operate in Jerusalem ("Hashgaha Pratit" or "private supervision”), and today it has nine participating businesses. 

A short internet search yields a number of websites from which we can learn about the supply side of establishments that sell food in localities throughout Israel. The database of the “Rest” website (www.rest.co.il) lists 667 eating establishments in Jerusalem. Tel Aviv has 1,573, Haifa has 373, and RishonLeZion has 278. In keeping with the image of a city where every corner hosts a café, the number of eating establishments in Tel Aviv is exceptionally high in relation to Israeli standards. Some of the reasons for this are the size of the metropolis and the culture of eating outside the home that is prevalent within the local business community and the young entertainment-seeking community.

There are differences in the extent to which kashrut is observed by eating establishments within each of the three major cities in Israel. According to the website “Rest” a total of 486 (73%) of Jerusalem’s businesses are kosher, compared with 181 (27%) that are not. Tel Aviv has 468 kosher establishments, comparable to the figure for Jerusalem, but these represent only 30% of the total; it also has 1,105 non-kosher establishments (about 70%). In Haifa a total of 96 establishments (only 26%) are kosher, and 277 (74%) are not kosher.

Classification by type of food reveals that the percentage of kosher-certified businesses that sell meat is lower than the total percentage of kosher businesses. This reflects the relative difficulty of observing kashrut for meat, as compared with kashrut in the context of milk. A total of 158 (69%) meat-serving establishments in Jerusalem are kosher (compared with 73% of the total number of eating establishments in the city), and 71 (31%) are not kosher. In Tel Aviv, 31% of meat-serving eating establishments are kosher, while in Haifa the figure is 17%, and in RishonLeZion it is 39%.

Interestingly, the percentage of kosher businesses that offer delivery is higher than the overall percentage of kosher businesses. In Jerusalem 185 (85%) of the businesses that offer delivery are kosher, in Tel Aviv 42% are kosher, and in Haifa the figure is 33%. This higher percentage can be explained by looking at the types of food offered for delivery – pizza, hamburgers, and so on – which are perceived as more populist and are quickly prepared. Such business places cater to a wider target audience and rely on relatively lower profits per unit.

Sources of data:
Rest website (Zap Group): http://www.rest.co.il

Written Word – Foreign Language

Lior Regev

Every year thousands of new titles are published in Israel. Even during an era in which the ever-present Internet, television, and radio compete to overwhelm our senses, the written word continues to flow. In the framework of the Book Law, the National Library – the body responsible for collecting and preserving Israel’s cultural assets – receives two copies of every publication issued in Israel. The library classifies and catalogues these books. Each year the library produces a report with statistical data about the new books in Israel. 

In 2012, the library recorded a total of 7,487 new books, including governmental, business, and private publications, reference books, fiction, religious texts, and children’s books. By comparison, in 2011 a total of 6,302 new books were recorded, in 2010 the total was 6,285, and in 2009 it was 6,326. 

Books in Israel are published by a variety of publishers located throughout the country. Jerusalem has consistently been at the top of the list in this regard, as the city with the greatest number of new books – significantly more than Tel Aviv and the other cities on the list. For example, in 1992, a total of 2,594 new books were published in Jerusalem, comprising 41% of the 6,271 publications issued in Israel that year. Tel Aviv, by comparison, produced only 2,051 (33%) publications. In 2002, Jerusalem produced 2,619 (35%) publications out of a total of 7,399 new titles published in Israel, and Tel Aviv produced 1,840 (25%). In 2012, a total of 2,077 (31%) new books were published in Jerusalem, compared with 1,479 (22%) in Tel Aviv and only 408 (6%) in Bnei Brak, the third city in terms of number of new publications.

Most of the books published in Israel and recorded at the National Library are in Hebrew. In 2012, the most recent year for which data have been compiled, about 81% of all publications were produced in Hebrew. So what are the other languages? The most popular foreign languages in which books are published in Israel are English, Arabic, and Russian. Out of a total of 808 books published in a foreign language in Israel, 371 (46%) were published in English, 205 (25%) in Arabic, and 165 (20%) in Russian.

When we examine the languages in which books were published across various cities, an interesting picture emerges. About 21% of the books published in Jerusalem were in a foreign language, compared with only 5% in Tel Aviv. This difference might stem from the variety in culture and background that characterizes Jerusalem compared with Tel Aviv. Out of 429 new books published in a foreign language in Jerusalem, 217 (51%) were published in English, 101 (24%) in Arabic, and 80 (19%) in Russian – comparable to the percentages for Israel. By comparison, in Tel Aviv 33 books (41%) were in English, 34 (42%) in Russian, and only 1 (1%) in Arabic.

I would like to express special thanks to Nachum Zitter and the National Library of Israel for their assistance in providing the statistical information for this column.