Municipal Assets – Public Goods

Ruth Avraham

Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies 

www.jiis.org

Municipal assets are assets which the municipality owns or rents, as well as manages. These are a rare public resource, mostly used by various municipality departments or private voluntary associations that receive the building in a land allocation process.

In 2012, the "Public Knowledge Workshop" together with "Hitorerut" movement compiled a list of municipal assets in Jerusalem. The list contains 2,590 assets, with a total area of 3,400 dunams, or 3% of Jerusalem's municipal area. Sixty-eight percent of the assets serve as educational facilities such as kindergartens, elementary or intermediate schools, yeshivas, ulpena etc.; eleven percent are used by community, sport and welfare facilities; eight percent are bomb shelters; and the other 13% are divided between various cultural venues, libraries, mother and child care, offices, storage and others.

East Jerusalem residents constitute 37% of the city's population, but only 10% of the municipal assets are located in East Jerusalem. In Ultra-orthodox neighborhoods, whose population composes approximately 20% of the population, the "Public Knowledge Workshop" and "Hitorerut" found 25% of the assets. East Jerusalem has less than two assets per thousand residents; the large neighborhoods such as Gilo, Pisgat Ze'ev, and Har Homa have 2-5; and southern neighborhoods, mostly populated by the "General" Jewish population (non-Ultra-orthodox), such as Bak'a, Kiryat Yovel, Ein Karem and Makor Haim have 5-8. The overall average in Jerusalem stands at 3.2 assets per 1,000 residents.

All cultural venues, according to the list, are located in West Jerusalem. Only 5% of community, sport and welfare facilities are in East Jerusalem, along with only 3 branches of mother and child care (5% of the total in Jerusalem). Only 2 of 196 bomb shelters are in East Jerusalem.

The street and facility mapping's accuracy is limited, so there may have been errors in the geo-coding process. A further error may have been caused by the analyses of the number of assets, which greatly differ in size, but the overall trend is quite clear, and in line with other findings. We did not compare these findings to world trends, since definitions are very different in different countries.

A Time of Loneliness

Yoad Shahar

www.jiis.org

The High Holiday period is a happy family time for most of us. After the holidays, though, a sense of loneliness sometimes descends on us. Even though loneliness is a personal experience that differs for everyone, it is interesting to see which Jerusalemites tend to experience it more intensely than others. The annual Social Survey of the Central Bureau of Statistics asked respondents if there are situations in which they feel lonely, and whether there are people on whom they can rely for help if they do feel a sense of distress or crisis. 

We would assume that married people feel less lonely, and indeed, evidently 36% of the singles in Jerusalem feel lonely often or sometimes, compared with just 31% among married individuals. At the same time, if you have already married, its best to stay married, as 47% of divorced or separated individuals and 68% of widows and widowers reported feeling lonely. This data seemingly romanticizes married life, yet even marriage does not promise that life will be a rose garden, as it does not guarantee that there will be someone to lean on during a crisis. Only 77% of those married said they have somebody on whom they could rely in a crisis, compared with 80% among divorced people, 83% among the widowed, and 87% among singles. 

It is customarily believed that in traditional societies the feeling of togetherness is greater than, or replaces, the sense of loneliness. Yet when we examine the data for Jerusalem by population group, we find that feelings of loneliness are greater among the city’s Arabs. Among Arabs, 39% said they often or sometimes feel lonely, compared with only 25% among Jews. Regarding the question of whether they have someone to rely on in a time of crisis, apparently only 52% of Arabs have such a person, compared with 94% of Jews. 

The extent of religious belief or the nature of religious identity also affects one’s feelings of loneliness and the sense that there is someone to rely on. Among the ultra-orthodox (haredim), only 10% feel lonely often or sometimes. Among the religiously observant, 28% feel lonely, and among the secular this figure is 29%. Likewise, 96% of the ultra-orthodox reported having someone on whom they can rely, compared with 94% among the religiously observant and 91% among the secular. 

Loneliness, as well as the sense that one has or does not have someone to lean on, is related first and foremost to the state of reality. Yet it is also a product of the manner in which we experience and understand reality. The data reveal that feelings of loneliness and of having someone to rely on in crisis are linked to the lifestyle we have chosen for ourselves, which shapes both our reality and the manner in which we experience it. 

Translation: Merav Datan

Fight for Your Right (To Pay Tax)

Dafna Shemer

www.jiis.org

Jerusalem’s Arnona (municipal tax) is particularly high, the highest in Israel. In 2014 Jerusalem’s total due Arnona was 1,173,000,00 NIS (New Israeli Shekels) for 212,000 housing units. Arnona discounts amounted to 26% of the total, with 40% of the discounts going to residents from Jerusalem neighborhoods of low socio-economic status (a socio-economic status of 2-5, with 20 being the highest status, according to the 2008 census). 

An examination of Jerusalem’s lower socio-economic neighborhoods reveals an interesting picture regarding the exercise of rights on the part of East Jerusalem versus West Jerusalem residents. These neighborhoods are geographically and socially distinguishable as areas populated by the ultra-orthodox (haredi) in West Jerusalem and by Palestinians in East Jerusalem. 

Most (72%) of the properties in West Jerusalem that belong to residents of lower socio-economic standing have a ranking of 4 or 5, whereas in East Jerusalem only 49% of the properties belong to residents with a ranking of 4 or 5. 

Building on the assumption that people with the same socio-economic status would receive the same discount in Arnona, given their income, we examined lower socio-economic neighborhoods in West Jerusalem and in East Jerusalem. We examined how many discounts were granted on the basis of income, as a proportion of the total number of apartments in the neighborhood. Evidently, the percentage of Arnona discounts based on income, as a proportion of the total number of apartments, is higher in West Jerusalem (39%) than in East Jerusalem (26%). For the sake of comparison, we note that in neighborhoods of higher socio-economic standing (15-19), 6% of the apartments receive a discount on the basis of income. 

Both East Jerusalem and West Jerusalem neighborhoods show a decrease in the percentage of discounts granted on the basis of income as the socio-economic ranking of the neighborhood rises. East Jerusalem neighborhoods with a socio-economic status of 2 received discounts for 27% of the apartments therein, whereas West Jerusalem neighborhoods with a ranking of 2 received discounts for 42% of the apartments therein. East Jerusalem neighborhoods with a socio-economic status of 5 received discounts for 15% of the apartments therein, while for West Jerusalem this figure was 35%. 

When we examine the total Arnona collected, in relation to the total due without discount, amidst residents of lower socio-economic standing, we find that collection rates in East Jerusalem (72%) are lower than in West Jerusalem (85%). Here too, as the socio-economic status increases from 2 to 5, Arnona collection rates increase. For higher socio-economic rankings (15-19), collection rates are higher too – at 96%. 

In sum, one might conclude that residents of West Jerusalem are more effectively exercising their rights vis-à-vis Arnona than East Jerusalem residents. And perhaps as a consequence, Arnona collection in West Jerusalem is more effective and efficient than it is in East Jerusalem.

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.