Because of the reliance on those coming from the army
Arabs in Israel are excluded from tech jobs
"Abu Salem" and to his left is his colleague Ahmed Ghobeili.
From the source
Two Arab women at a job fair sponsored by the "Itty Works" organization.
From the source
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When Wassim Abu Salem was a 14-year-old boy living in Nazareth, he wanted to learn programming more than anything else.
But there was no room for that in his city, and he did not know anyone in the Arab community who worked in the field of computers.
Now in his 30s, he holds a degree in computer science and another in law.
He is the founder of the Loeb Academy, which specializes in teaching young people how to code.
He is currently working on educating Arab children in Israel from the age of seven to 18 years old, as he developed a program for this for the current generation, because he did not have it when he wanted it.
Abu Salem also co-founded Toro, a new start-up whose platform mobilizes and trains software developers.
"I like the idea of creating something new that can provide something valuable and solve problems," says Abu Salem, sitting in the conference room of a high-rise building in Tel Aviv.
This building is owned by Google and provides offices for startup companies.
Abu Salem is one of a very small minority of Arab citizens working in modern technologies in Israel.
According to Israeli government data, 2% of workers in the modern technology sector, which brought in 25.6 billion in investments last year, have become businessmen themselves.
Sitting with Abu Salem in the same hall was Ahmed Ghobeili, 26, a software developer for Toro, who gave about 50 interviews before he was able to enter the industry six years ago.
"I didn't have the right relationships," Ghebeli said.
I was not part of the high-tech industry community.”
untapped resource
Israel prides itself on being referred to as an “emerging country,” but the high-tech industry that fuels its economy has excluded the largest minority, the Palestinian Arab citizens who make up 21 percent of the population.
This is taking place despite the fact that Israel faces a huge shortage of computer engineers and other workers in this field, who are equivalent to 6% of the workforce in the field of modern technology.
As in other places, relationships are important in Israel's tech culture.
Job news spreads through social networks, and the profession is dedicated to Israeli Jews, who know each other from the elite modern technology units in the army, and military service that gives them a very valuable experience before entering the civilian workforce.
But that is starting to change now, as an organization called “Itty Works” has inserted 4,500 Arab workers into modern technology jobs since 2008. The “Tzofin” organization, run by Arabs and Jews, is making efforts to get technology companies into Arab cities and towns, most of which are far from the center Modern technology industry in Tel Aviv.
Remarkably, the new Israeli government's politically broad budget allocated $188 million for a five-year plan to add Arab engineers to the high-tech sector, in the hope of increasing the standard of living of the Arab community and promoting coexistence in Israeli society.
Although the modern technology sector constitutes less than 10% of the labor force in Israel, it represents about 15% of Israel's GDP, and 43% of exports.
The average salary of workers in this sector is about $98 thousand annually, which is double what is customary in other sectors.
Bigger piece of cake
Changes were in full swing in the Arab sector, which for decades had been isolated from the Israelis, both geographically and socially, and was often viewed with skepticism.
But finally, Palestinian citizens of Israel are increasingly integrated, both economically and politically, and are vocal in demanding their rights.
The United Arab List party, the first Arab party in a government coalition, called for financing the integration of Arabs into the modern technology economy.
More and more Arab university students are majoring in computer science and related fields, although middle-class students have been drawn to more traditional fields such as medicine, rather than the perilous and hard-to-reach tech sector.
Help came from entrepreneurs.
Accepting the request
Lian Mansour, from the village of Kawkab Abu Al-Hija, located in the Galilee region, helps graduates in their search for work, giving them advice on how to transfer trust, negotiate a good salary, and checks with companies for their opinions.
“Many Arab graduates have good capabilities,” Mansour says, adding, but they need support in order to get to the interview.
She met graduates at very high rates who spend several months trying to find work, even though the industry has a shortage of work force and needs at least 21,000 computer engineers.
Israeli companies are moving work to countries such as Ukraine and Poland in order to fill this shortfall.
After mentioning the billions of investments in the technology sector in Israel last year, Israeli communications consultant Amir Mezrok, who works for Israeli technology companies, said: “So far, it's smashing all the numbers, but companies can't grow, because they don't hire more workers, and the question is How can it grow?
He bemoans that Israel has long relied on what he describes as the army's "narrow suppression" as the main training ground and a fast-paced tech hub.
The Israel Innovation Authority warned that without an increase in the number of tech workers, "the Israeli economy will come to a bad end."
Changes in Arab society
Serene Najim Kayal grew up as a student and excelled in mathematics and science subjects in a small village in the city of Acre.
She stunned her parents when she rejected their plans to become a doctor, which they saw as a natural and socially acceptable option for a student with such top grades, opting instead to study engineering.
There was no engineer in her village at that time.
Her father was so saddened by her choice that he refused to attend her graduation ceremony at the Technion, the equivalent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.
Her three brothers were medical professionals.
"It became a big challenge for me in front of everyone, to become part of the Israeli technology sector," said Kayal, who is now 30.
With the help of the organization «Ati Works» managed to get her first job, finally, in a managerial position in a solar energy company.
Her shares in the company enabled her to help her husband buy an apartment.
She says her father is now proud of her success.
Abu Salem, the founder of the Academy of Programming, says he believes that the Corona pandemic has helped change the way parents view the prospects for their children's future in the technical economy.
“Parents are starting to understand the importance of technology, and that it is part of our lives.
That is why they started encouraging their children to study computer science.”
Marwa Agbaria, 25, from Umm al-Fahm, is grateful to her parents who supported her when she left home to study computer science at Tel Aviv University.
At the time, about 500 students were studying in this department, 10 of them were Arab women.
She is now the only Arab at a startup in Tel Aviv, working in software development.
• Changes in the Arab sector are progressing in full swing, after it remained for several decades isolated from the Israelis, geographically and socially, and was often viewed with skepticism.
• The "Tsofin" organization, run by Arabs and Jews, is making efforts to introduce technology companies to Arab cities and towns, most of which are far from the center of the modern technology industry in Tel Aviv.
Dina Kraft, Israel correspondent for the newspaper "Science Monitor"
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