Social and Economic Cleavages in Israeli Society

Sponsored by UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies

Israeli society throughout time has been characterized by two social cleavages: one between Jews and Arabs, and one between Ashkenazi (European) Jews and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews. In the last two decades, a third cleavage has emerged in Israel between ultra-orthodox (haredi) Jews and other Jews. This most recent development has largely displaced the Ashkenazi-Mizrahi divide, with important implications for Israeli society. In this talk, Professor Michael Beenstock will explore the socioeconomic forces behind this transition, as well as its relationship with political developments in Israel. He will also discuss the stability of relations between Israeli Arabs and Jews.

Michael Beenstock is the Pinchas Sapir Professor of Economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and was a professor at City University, London from 1981-1987. He is a Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, London.



Professor Beenstocks wide-ranging research interests and projects cover many topics in economics. He is the author many books and journal articles, including Heredity, Family and Inequality: A Critique of Social Sciences (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2012), Capital Deepening and Regional Inequality: An Empirical Analysis (Annals of Regional Science, 2011), and Testing the Immigrant Assimilation Hypothesis with Longitudinal Data (Review of Economics of the Household), 2010.

Cost : This event is free and open to the public. RSVP requested.

For more information or to RSVP, please visit www.international.ucla.edu/israel/event/11078 or call (310) 825-9646