Contradicting the claim often voiced by Israel’s detractors that it is an apartheid country, Israel just appointed another Arab to an important public-service position. 

The Israeli Cabinet unanimously approved the appointment of attorney Mariam Kabha as National Commissioner for Equal Employment Opportunities at the Ministry of Economy and Industry during its weekly meeting on Sunday.

Kabha, an Israeli Arab who was chosen for the position from among 60 candidates, has an L.L.B from the law faculty at Haifa University. She has served as the Haifa and Northern District Commissioner for Equal Employment Opportunities, as well as the Economy Ministry representative director on the board of Ashra – The Israel Foreign Trade Risks insurance Corporation Ltd. Kabha is a member of the steering committee for the Collective Impact initiative on the employment of Israeli Arabs, and a member of the Haifa municipality forum on advancing the employment of women.

“This is an appointment with high symbolic and practical importance,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after her appointment was approved. “We have two major missions in the field of employment – to increase employment among Arab women and ultra-orthodox men. This appointment will serve to achieve a national goal. Mariam Kabha is capable and deserving and I wish her success.”

This appointment makes Kabha the highest-ranking Arab female in the civil service, Israel’s Globes reported.

By: Max Gelber, United with Israel