IDI: Stark disparities in shelters, protective structures for Arab vs. Jewish localities

"The lack of protective structures and the disparity between Arab and Jewish localities...forces Arab residents to live in a state of constant peril," said IDI's Lital Piller

By EVE YOUNG NOVEMBER 13, 2024 14:17

Girls walk on the outskirts of the Bedouin city of Rahat, southern Israel (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)

Arab localities in Israel are lacking protective structures, especially when compared to Jewish localities, The Israeli Democracy Institute said in a report published Tuesday.

"The lack of protective structures and the disparity between Arab and Jewish localities in this regard forces Arab residents to live in a state of constant peril, thus harming their basic rights to life, physical welfare, and equality," said IDI's Lital Piller, the author of the report.

The state has not yet completed the protection of Arab localities against the threat of rocket and missile fire, in spite of various decisions and plans agreed on, said the report, adding that there are still  "significant disparities in the provision of protective structures in these localities."

This leaves "most Arab residents of these localities" without access to any form of shelter and lacking the ability to protect themselves and their families.

"Around 29% of schools in the Arab state education system have either highly inadequate protective spaces or none at all," the report said, citing 2023 education ministry data. The report noted that this is in comparison to around 12% of schools in the Jewish education system which are lacking or have inadequate protective spaces.

Firefighters respond to a fire near a rocket attack from Lebanon, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, June 14, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

Arab Israelis not protected 

A 2020 comptroller report found that around 15% of all residents living within 9 km. of the northern border are not properly protected and that 60% of those not protected are Arab Israelis.

These discrepancies are not new, the report said, noting that as of 2018, only 11 out of 71 Arab localities mapped by the State Comptroller had public shelters. In three of the 11, there was only one shelter for the whole population.

When looking at Israel's South, those who face the most severe lack of shelter are the Bedouin population, the report said.

This population numbers around 300,000 people who are in range of rockets from Gaza and many of whom live near "sensitive military installations that are strategic targets for attack," the report said. Despite this, many do not have access to protective spaces and shelters.

The report mentioned Rahat, the largest Arab local authority in Israel, as an example.  "Located some 30km from the Gaza Strip and home to around 80,000 residents, there is not a single public shelter [in Rahat]," said the report, citing the Knesset Research and Information Center.

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"By way of comparison, in the town of Ofakim, which is also around 30km from Gaza and has around 40,000 residents, there are several dozens of public shelters," the report added.

Many of the homes in Rahat also lack safe rooms, and the municipality estimates that around 25,000 residents do not have access to shelters, according to the report.

"The lack of protective structures is particularly severe in the non-recognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, where according to various estimates, the approximately 120,000 residents of 35 non-recognized settlements have no protection at all against rocket and missile fire."

Construction is also lightweight in these villages, meaning residents cannot shelter in their homes, the report added.

Israel's Israeli-Arab population feels these inequalities, the report said, citing a December IDI poll that showed that "the majority of the Arab public (59.5%) believe that the State of Israel does not ensure the same level of provision of protective structures in Arab localities as it does in Jewish localities."

The poll also found that Arab Israelis feel more worried about their safety and the safety of their families.

The report called on the state to "act to reduce the inequalities in provision of protective structures, and to safeguard the security and welfare of all its residents, including Arab residents and citizens," saying that this is the state's duty.

"In order to meet its responsibilities toward the residents of Arab localities, the state must provide protective structures—immediately, and without delay—to all those localities that lack them, and must act to create protective spaces in their educational institutions and health clinics."