This Report surveys a time period characterized by the eruption of violence of the second intifada. The public climate in Israel continues to be overshadowed by these events.
The brief growth spurt of 2000 that centered on high-tech industries and the international activities of Israeli firms in these fields were nipped in the bud – and its demise also quashed the techno-economic leap forward.
The economic pressures and social challenges of the past decade have led to areas of social distress that have not been addressed in full, although notable improvements did occur in certain fields.
The Report that follows describes, at length, various dimensions of Israel’s social realities and paints a complex portrait of growth in some sectors and stagnation in others. Each element of the portrait is reliable and solid in itself and is also shown against contrasting developments elsewhere in the socioeconomic system. This work portrays the magnitude of the challenges that Israeli society faces.
