The Two Faces of Protektzia

DANET, BRENDA

THE TWO FACES OF PROTEKTZIA BR EN DA DANET The popular mayor of Tel Aviv, Shlomo Lahat, known as "Chich" to everyone, is supposed to have remarked: "In south Tel Aviv they pick up chairs; in...

...Btculturalism in Israeli Bureaucracy...
...Peruvians call it palanca...
...On the other hand, there are things to be said for protekuia...
...262-2S...
...The Zionist movement was from the beginning beset by contradictory tendencies toward familism, on the one hand, and the demands of a universalis!ically grounded eivil society, on the other.* Many observers of Israeli society believe that since the Six-Day War, and particularly since the rise of the Likud party to power in 1977, familistic loyalties have strengthened, especially among the more nationalistic, right-wing groups...
...In Israel, there is a separate term for bribery—shochad...
...The true figure is probably even higher...
...tt/tpilt.yt...
...Israel has an unusually large public sector on which its citizens must rely for a very wide range of services...
...How are we to explain the norm, which says that using protektiia is wrong, while in fact the use of protekuia and access to it are status symbols...
...Illegal violence by Jewish underground groups has added fuel to the debate over the "rule of law," To the extent that illegalism characterizes Israeli society, protekizia is encouraged...
...Each person is supposed to be treated exactly the same way, regardless of who they are or whom they know, or what their ethnic background or their political preferences or the color of their eyes may be...
...Mishpachtiyut (the Hebrew word for "familism") is reflected in popular phrases like kol Yisrael chaverim ("All Israel arc friends") or kol Yisrael arevim u 1'ie ("All Israel are responsible for one another...
...in Erik Cohen, Moshr Lissak and Uri Almagor...
...Israel's frequent wars, army reserve duty and continual terrorist activity all serve to perpetuate a "wc-they" view of the world...
...Thus, the norm is to say that using protektzia is wrong...
...Most modern and modernizing societies have a slang term for the use of personal inllucncc...
...and tendon: Wcslvicw Press...
...Moreover, most of" those who claimed that ¦¦ ~r~\^ they used protektzia in the prior year said they had access to it—they had someone they could approach...
...When citizen-clients are dependent on the bureaucracy, and officials' jobs are secure, there is often little incentive to offer good service...
...Boulder, Colu...
...Especially in an immigrant society, protekuia is an integrative device, promoting solidarity among people whose differences might well outweigh the similarities that bring them together...
...Follow-up interviews indicated that some people who claimed to have access to protektzia did not in fact have it, which simply confirms that having access to protektzia has become a kind of status symbol in Israel...
...Thus, the use of protekizia both reflects and reinforces solidarity among Jews in Israel...
...Hanswtltt ihxrx Man H'fitilwttti tttghl w Hu Ou'it fours: llttsaintn m hiatti Suuly...
...Interestingly enough, only 10 percent of the sample replied "yes" to the question: "Is it all right to use personal connections to arrange matters in government and public bureaucracy...
...However, it can be argued that the use of protekizia in the long run impedes administrative reform...
...On the one hand, it is obviously unfair...
...Perhaps the most important finding of my research is that the better integrated Israelis are into society, the more likely they are to use protektiia in routine encounters...
...But familistic values also promote the use of protekizia...
...Being part of such a protekuia network makes people feel good...
...One mitigating factor, though, is that most use of personal connections is to speed things up, to smooth out procedural hassles—not to obtain benefits to which one has no right...
...In the United States people speak of "pulling strings" or using "pull...
...In Israel, protekizia, or the use of personal connections, is a way of circumventing the bureaucracy when the path to some desired service or benefit is blocked...
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...The term protekizia was brought to Israel by settlers from Eastern Europe...
...Lahat was suggesting that in south Tel Aviv, where low-income groups of Jews (mainly of Sephardic origin) are concentrated, to get what you want you threaten violence, and that in north Tel Aviv, the bastion of well-heeled Ashkenazi Jews, you merely pick up the telephone to gel someone to intercede on your behalf—you use protekizia...
...When such loyalties are strong, people feel more pressure to help family and friends than to obey the rules...
...Italians cannot do without raccomanaazioni— letters of recommendation, or at least access to persons who can provide such letters...
...In the Yishuv period (the period of settlement before the establishment of the state), illegalism was blatant—but the law was someone ekt's law, British law...
...cds.h (lortiparalinf Sot.uitihtnan.iey...
...In two surveys I conducted in the last 20 years, about a fifth of Jewish Israelis admitted to using protektzia routinely...
...On the contrary, despite lip service tD the idea that using prolektzia is wrong, Israelis are proud of using it and lake few pains to hide their behavior...
...The controversy over the applicability of a universalistic "rule of law" has been particularly vociferous in the last year or two, ¦ ] l.nr...
...A history of persecution is probably the prime source of this in-group solidarity...
...Sprin^lk, Ml !/<i;<i-':«' tt'inr.j...
...Is protekuia good or bad...
...Transactions between Israelis and their government or other public agencies are supposed to be governed by the principle of "universalism...
...sparked by the debate over the killing of two captured terrorists and the ensuing cover-up by the Shin Bet (General Security Services...
...The third important factor promoting the use of protekizia is illegalism...
...All societies, however, not just Israel's, deviate from this principle to some degree...
...Ehud Sprinzak has argued that the rule of law has never been fully institutionalized in Israel, and that * Sec Barurh Kimmrrling, "JJciwet-n tl>c Primordial and the Civil Definitions of ihc Collective Identity: Erctz Israel or the Siait of Israel...
...in north Tel Aviv they pick up the telephone...
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...In the Soviet Union, people call it Mai...
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...Second, it brings people together in unexpected ways: Think of a citizen-client with a problem who telephones an old school classmate, who then contacts a relative, etc...
...In part, illegalism derives from the same source as familism: the need to close ranks to fight for group survival vis-a-vis hostile persecutors...
...The use of protekuia in Israel is the product of three principal factors: malfunctioning of public administration, familism and illegalism...
...illegalism is a basic characteristic of Israel's political culture.* People have an instrumental attitude toward the law, breaking it without guilt when it is in their interest to do so...
...The Slavic languages of most Eastern European countries use the same term...
...It is pan of the culture...
...In modern Hebrew, "to lift (or pick up) a chair" is an idiom meaning "to threaten violence...
...Israel Studies Series, Albany: State University ol New York Press, m press...
...This malfunctioning of public administration provides the soil in which protekuia grows...
...Unlike the Israeli version of the term, however, in Eastern European languages, the term protekizia is understood to include both bribery and the use of personal connections...
...Over time, immigrants learn to use it...
...It was a mitzvah to steal weapons In later periods, more egoistic forms of illegalism have proliferated, such as income tax evasion, reckless driving behavior and illegal archaeological digs (notably by the late Moshe Dayan...
...While American and Canadian immigrants tend to abstain from using protektzia in routine encounters, when they feel they have been treated unjustly, they are just as likely as others, if not more so, to use it...
...Is protektiia a form of corruption...
...1J1 This article is based on Danefs forthcoming book, Potting Strings...
...If you eliminate those people who had no contact with public agencies during the prior year, the percentage of those who admit to using protekliia nearly doubles...
...By Western standards, it may be...
...Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim...
...A little of both...
...If it weren't for the problem, they would probably not have spoken to each other that day...
...It always is used at the expense of someone else...
...At first, they may be reluctant to do so, especially if they come from countries like the United States or Canada...
...EUemtadt...
...For one thing, it humanizes bureaucracy, helping at least some people to get things done and to feel that they can cope...
...But "locals" do not view their behavior as corrupt at all...
...There is little doubt that Israeli bureaucracy suffers from inefficiency, "Red tape" is one of the problems most often mentioned by immigrants from North America when queried about their adjustment to life in Israel...
...In a familistic society, individuals are supposed to subordinate their own interests to the interests and welfare of the group...
...Long lines, inconvenient office hours, complicated forms are just some of the problems they encounter...
...Year after year, the national ombudsman finds that nearly half of all complaints submitted to him are justified...
...E&nx faHono^ 0/ S...
...Strong identification with and loyalty to the group, mutual assistance and a concern for the perpetuation of the group are all important...

Vol. 12 • January 1988 • No. 10


 
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