Jerusalem city hall employs highest percentage of minorities in Israel

By JONATHAN BECK
The Jerusalem Municipality employs the highest percentage of minorities of all cities with mixed populations, a study presented to a parliamentary investigative committee on minorities in the public sector found, Monday. The data shows that 1,934 minority groups members (Arabs, Druse and Circassians) make up some 26 percent of city hall employees. Tel Aviv, in comparison, employs only 206 minority group members, 3% of the employees. In Haifa, 12% of municipal employees hail from minority groups. The high percentage of minorities among the municipality employees in Jerusalem is not coincidental but part of a policy of corrective discrimination marked by Mayor Uri Lupoliansky, a statement by the Jerusalem Municipality said. Lupoliansky's policy is aimed at helping east Jerusalem residents become equal citizens and share in contributing to the capital."The Jerusalem Municipality sees employing minorities as an important aspect of its policy, with the stated aim of involving this population in the city's activities and supplying efficient and appropriate service to minorities living in Jerusalem," Haim Gabay, head of the human resources administration in Jerusalem municipality said.