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Israeli Society Is Not Unraveling

(Jerusalem Post) Caroline B. Glick - Despite a sudden flood of gloom and doom stories, Israeli society is extremely healthy. Unemployment is at record lows. Israeli Jewish women have the highest fertility rate in the Western world. Education levels have risen dramatically with dozens of private colleges opening their doors. Israel's diverse Jewish population is becoming more integrated. Sephardic and Ashkenazi intermarriage has long been a norm. Both the national religious and ultra-Orthodox sectors are becoming increasingly integrated in nonreligious neighborhoods and institutions. Ultra-Orthodox military conscription rates have increased seven-fold in the past four years. Over the past decade, ultra-Orthodox women have matriculated en masse in vocational schools that have trained them in hi-tech and other marketable professions. The fact that women make up the senior leadership echelons in both business and government is not a fluke. Rather it is a product of the largely egalitarian nature of Israeli society. True, as is the case everywhere, Israeli women suffer from male chauvinism. But imperfection does not detract from the fact that women in Israel are free, educated, empowered and advancing on all fronts. Israel's growing social cohesion and prosperity are all the more notable as we witness the cleavages between liberals and conservatives growing ever wider in America. In light of these integrationist trends, the media circus in recent weeks that has portrayed Israeli society as frayed through and through has been startling. We have far more that unites us than separates us. If we focus on this, there is no force either within or without our society that can defeat us.
2012-01-03 00:00:00
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