Israel has never been an egalitarian state. But in its heyday, it was more egalitarian than most states in the world. The poverty wasn’t acute and the wealth wasn’t ostentatious, and social responsibility toward the poor and needy was shown not only on the economic level but on the emotional level too.

In the earlier Israel, those who worked – and almost all the women and men worked very hard – could make a modest but respectable living for themselves and their families. The new immigrants, the refugees, the immigrant camp dwellers all received public education, health services and housing. Young, poor Israel was a master social-entrepreneur.”

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