Minister of Education, Prof. Yuli Tamir,
Chairman of the Lobby for the Advancement of Civil Society, Knesset Member Zvulun Orlev,
Chairman of Shitufim, Mr. Roni Duek,
President of the UJC, Mr. Howard Rieger,
Chairman of the Rashi Foundation, Mr. Hubert Leven,
Chairman of Natal and Founder of the Gandir Foundation, Ms. Yehudit Yuval Rekanati,
Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Ra'anan Dinur,
Director General of Shitufim, Mr. Shlomo Dushi,
Chairman of the Civil Leadership Association, Prof. Dov Goldberger,
Director of the Center for Third-Sector Research, Prof. Benny Gidron,
Heads of the Israeli business community,
Distinguished guests,
Good evening.
A Jewish society, in its very essence, is a society which strives for social justice. This insistence, not to accept social injustice, but work toward creating a better future, has been instilled in the people of Israel since the very beginning. Our Welfare State derives its fundamental principles from the Jewish sources, where our image as a nation, our approach toward the weak and the destitute, and our perception of social justice was shaped.
In Deuteronomy, chapter 5, it is written: "safeguard the Sabbath day…in order that your slave and your maidservant may rest like you".
In Leviticus, chapter 23, it is written: …"you shall not gather the gleanings of your harvest; for the poor and the proselyte shall you leave them." And in chapter 25 it is written that in the Jubilee Year: "…you shall return each man to his ancestral heritage and you shall return each man to his family".
Our moral commitment as a Jewish and Zionist state sets high standards, and our duty as a Government and a society is to strive to meet these standards. These are the standards which prompt the Third Sector to engage in social activity, and businesspeople to give back to society what they have received from it.
However, giving in the 21st century is no longer carried out in the framework of our places of prayer or our small community circle. It is institutionalized, it is organized, it combines the three sectors. It is based on strategy.
In this reality, Governments must act differently. Gone is the era when the Government stood alone, as a single player striving to serve the public. Today, other partners join the Government in this endeavor. Not because the Government seeks to share in the responsibility, but because we are a nation which takes responsibility. The Government must allow this, and bring in anyone who can assist and contribute.
Like us, many Governments in the western world realized over the past several years that the rules of the game have changed, that this partnership is important and that it requires different thinking. As for ourselves, I believe that this partnership necessitates not only a civil society and a professional, active philanthropy, but also the definition of borders.
Ladies and gentlemen,
No Government can do everything that Israeli citizens think it must do. It is therefore important that we know the services which stand at the core of the Government's responsibility and the line separating them from other services (optional services).
The exact location of the line defining the core services is part of a moral worldview, a social ideology. It is a question of priorities. There have been Governments in Israel which reduced it dramatically. My Government thought otherwise and has overturned this trend.
I am proud to say that in the past two years we have led massive investment in education and youth at risk, substantially increased the aid for Holocaust survivors, and raised the minimum wage, the assurance of income pensions and the old age pensions. We dramatically changed the emphasis in social policy, in order for it to be integrative and guarantee equal rights, through the revolution in the Wisconsin Plan, the introduction of negative income tax, and the enforcement of labor laws. We took action by setting social goals for the Government.
The decision regarding relations between sectors in Israel was a strategic one, part of a comprehensive complex. It lays the groundwork for another type of partnership and also reflects the distinction between the core service, for which the Government is exclusively responsible, and services where it merely approves and assists.
In all matters relating to the core services, we have called upon the Third Sector to be a partner in the decision-making processes, and bring to the discussion table the vast knowledge it has accumulated. We also acted to increase its involvement in the operation of state-funded social services, bringing its relative advantages to bear.
We believe, for instance, that a state which has set the goal of achieving growth while minimizing gaps must focus its aid on the weaker sectors, those who truly need it. This focus enables us, of course, to increase the aid, but the gravest concern is that many of the needy citizens are not really aware of their rights. Hence, the importance of mechanisms to exhaust these rights.
In this situation, providing accessibility to Government aid for populations in distress is a core service for which the state is responsible. However, will the Government lessen its responsibility if it incentivizes the civil society to act toward increasing the weaker populations' awareness of their rights?
I believe that another type of cooperation is required in the world beyond the core services. Here, the Government is required to enable processes to take place, through an encouraging tax policy, the creation of platforms and the enhancement of infrastructures (information infrastructures, for instance). This is the place where we must create a framework and conditions for success.
The great challenge you all spoke about today applies to the "border area" – activities which the Government strives to encourage, but which are not always at the core of its responsibility. What is required here is a partnership, the key to which, as I said, is the setting of borders.
Philanthropists and associations often agree to shoulder the costs of projects for a defined period, on condition that the state will later take over. It is no secret that when large sums of money are involved, Government offices cannot always resist the temptation. Sometimes there are great advantages to it, but many times, it steers the Government off the right set of priorities.
The problem lies not only with entrepreneurs and donors who wish to do what they feel is best, but also with us, the Government. The Government, when entering into an inter-sector partnership, must think and define that for which it takes full, long-term responsibility. When something is not at the core of our responsibility and is not on our list of priorities, we must not invest government resources in it.
I am aware of the fact that government ministries do not always have a clear policy and set of priorities, but the borders must be defined. We have also done this in a number of fields, including the program for children and youth at risk. We determined first what the Government is doing. This is the right order of things.
We must also remember that partnership does not mean that the Government relinquishes its authority or responsibility. The Government's policy is determined by the Government. We can and must do this together with the interested parties. We can form a thinking and discuss it in the framework of a "round table", but ultimately, the responsibility is ours.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have embarked on a new path, which is a challenge for us, and for you as well. In less than a month, the "interface round table" will be convened for the first time. I will participate in it, with the understanding that one of the greatest challenges facing us as a state lies in the world of tri-sector partnerships. I have no doubt that the bureaucratic tools which exist today must also change in order to allow this to happen.
We identify three axes for the continuation of the Government's policy in this field:
• The first axis it the axis of Philanthropy. We are currently discussing the possibility of settling the status of the foundation associations in Israel, as a means to "professionalize" the civil society and encourage local philanthropy. I believe we must do more, all of us, in order to create an environment which is conducive to social investment. We do not do enough to maximize the potential embodied in it.
• The second axis in the axis of Social Entrepreneurship. The State of Israel is blessed not only with hi-tech entrepreneurs of the highest level, but also with social entrepreneurs of the highest level. Just as we encourage business research and development, we must encourage social research and development as well.
• The third axis, ladies and gentlemen, is the axis of volunteering. You must know that the percentage of volunteering in the Third Sector in Israel is low. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis would undoubtedly have been willing to volunteer, if only there had been a framework for them, because in our hearts, we are a volunteering nation, a mobilized nation, a nation called to the flag.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In the modern society, in the reality of the 21st century, the joining of hands between the three sectors must be carried out in a smart, multi-system manner. The state supports the Third Sector with billions of shekels each year, but budget is not the issue. Partnership necessitates a courageous confrontation with fears, the breaking of conventions and a willingness to compromise.
A ruler, who was also a philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, once said: we were born to cooperate. We were born with a pair of hands and a pair of feet and a pair of eyes, in order for us to learn from them the secret of cooperation. However, this cooperation comes with a condition – that the heart behind the two hands will be one heart. This condition is fulfilled in the partnership which we have been working to form over the past year.
When this is the sprit, a spirit of partnership and the pursuit of a better future, we can achieve anything.
Thank you very much.