Opinion: "Not everything is rotten" - Yair Sheleg
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A month reporting on Israeli young people who are making a contribution to society has made it clear that in addition to a great deal of ad hoc initiatives by idealistic young people, many youths who do volunteer work are graduates of the socialist youth movements, members of religious Zionist groups that work in low-income areas, or students at pre-military academies. These three groups, which have formed over the past decade, are systematically motivating young people to take social action.
The socialist youth movements - Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed, Mahanot Haolim and Hashomer Hatzair - realized that their activities in the schools were missing the original point of practical action, and began working with people who have already been through the army and can make independent decisions and commitments. The movement graduates are mainly concerned with establishing urban communes that share finances but focus on education rather than on agriculture. These three youth movements have contributed some 2,000 former members to the communes. This may not sound like a lot, but it's not such a small number when you take into account that the commune members have to face up to parents and friends pushing them to advance in their careers.
The religious Zionist groups, whose members study Torah and work in low-income areas across the country, boast a membership of about 1,500 families. The approximately 60 groups are not cooperative, and their income does not necessarily come from education or welfare projects. Most of the members combine social action with the advancement of their careers. In addition, the members' activities are not just social, but also semi-political: They want to get across the notion that religious Zionism is about more than settlements, even though most members of the groups identify with the political right.
Meanwhile, the pre-military academies involved in social action are primarily either secular or mixed religious and secular. While the religious pre-military academies see their role mainly as preparing their members for the army and giving religious youth enough of a grounding so they remain religious after their military service, the secular academies see their aim as preparing the members to contribute to society. Erez Eshel, who set up a number of such academies, goes as far as calling them "leadership colleges." Indeed, many of the graduates of these academies end up in occupations or in projects that make a contribution to society.
The wide variety of young people involved in social initiatives indicates that, although many think Israeli youth are interested only in advancing their own personal interests, there are actually many young people who devote their lives to contributing to society, whether as part of a community geared toward that purpose or as individuals. What is clearly different from the past is that while the state used to provide most of the social services, today the burden falls largely on the nonprofit organizations that are springing up like mushrooms after the rain.
The reason for this change lies in the negative image Israelis have of the establishment. Even those who want to help are afraid of the political system, which people think of as corrupt or requiring them to act in ways they don't want to, such as by fawning over vote collectors or members of a party's central committee. In addition, the entire public mechanism appears to be clumsy and clogged, and the way to advancement, and thus to genuine influence, is too long and too greatly influenced by irrelevant considerations.
In any case, it turns out that Israelis have a patently incorrect image of Israeli society. It's not the case that everything is rotten or that everyone is busy looking out for himself, even if the level of corruption in general has gone up. So what is the reason for this erroneous image? It seems that it can be attributed to the press, which is largely responsible for the image we have of the country. The media take pains to dwell on the successes of those members of society who are busy taking care of their own interests, while almost completely ignoring those who are making social contributions. The latter are thought of as a curiosity or a boring story about something positive.
The result is that a new Israeli ethos has been created, whereby the best and the brightest go into high tech or other profitable fields. The ramification of this trend is that social initiatives are less likely to attract young people. The image of Israeli society as rotten and selfish could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, making an increasing number of idealistic young people afraid to act on their idealism so as not to be seen as the last of the suckers. The editorial policy of the media, then, does not merely reflect reality, but creates it.