ABSTRACT

The local authorities of Israel resemble the irresistible force that encounters an immovable object. The Interior Ministry wields the power of approval or denial over local physical planning, and shares the financial control of local councils with the Finance Ministry. These ministries determine each year's general grants to local authorities. Indications of central government aid also vary with the measure employed. On a per capita basis, Jewish communities benefit three times as much as Arab communities. Even those Arab communities with several thousand residents present the impression of being villages. Buildings are set here and there amidst twisting streets or paths instead of in the orderly blocks of the Jewish cities. There are also Jewish-Arab differences in the types of communities that show more or less financial prowess. Prowess is distributed "progressively" in the Jewish sector, and "regressively" in the Arab sector.