How Many Ethiopian Israelis Report Racism at Work? 48% in a 2024 Government Survey
48% of Ethiopian-origin public servants reported racism at work in a 2024 Justice Ministry survey. They filed 16% of the unit’s 367 complaint files.
48% of public-service employees of Ethiopian origin reported experiencing racism at work in a 2024 survey by the Ministry of Justice’s Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism, published on 20 April 2025. The count is the Unit’s own. It comes from a voluntary survey of 8,386 employees in government ministries, statutory units and two municipalities, which asked whether the respondent had personally experienced racism at work. The Unit was set up under Government Decision 1958, following an inter-ministerial team on eradicating racism against Ethiopian-Israelis that was formed after protests in spring 2015.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 48% | Respondents identifying as of Ethiopian origin who answered yes to “did you yourself experience racism at work?” | July to September 2024 |
| 43% | Arab respondents, same question | Same survey |
| 33% | Druze respondents, same question | Same survey |
| 23% | Haredi respondents, same question | Same survey |
| 14% | All 8,386 respondents who reported experiencing racism at work | Same survey |
| 17% | All 8,386 respondents who reported witnessing racism at work | Same survey |
Source: Ministry of Justice, Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism, Activity Report for 2024, published 20 April 2025. Every figure is the Unit’s own count from its own survey of public-service employees.
48% of Ethiopian-origin respondents reported racism at work
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism reported that almost half (48%) of its survey respondents of Ethiopian origin had personally experienced racism at work. The figure is the Unit’s own count, a share of public-service employees who answered its survey and identified as of Ethiopian origin. Respondents who preferred not to state their identity also answered yes at 48%.
16% of complaint files came from Ethiopian-origin citizens
Citizens of Ethiopian origin filed 16% of the 367 complaint files the Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism opened in 2024, on the Unit’s own count. The report sets this against an Ethiopian-origin share of the general population of under 2%, and states that the share of Ethiopian-origin complainants is several times their share of the population. The Central Bureau of Statistics gives the population count behind that comparison.
| Figure | What it counts | Who published it | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39% | Complaint files from Arab society, of 367 | Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism | 2024 |
| 16% | Complaint files from citizens of Ethiopian origin, of 367 | Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism | 2024 |
| 15% | Complaint files from Haredi society, of 367 | Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism | 2024 |
| Under 2% | Ethiopian-origin share of the general population, as the Unit’s report states it | Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism | As stated in the 2024 report |
| 168,800 | Residents of Ethiopian origin | Central Bureau of Statistics | End of 2022 |
| Approximately 92,100 | Residents of Ethiopian origin born in Ethiopia | Central Bureau of Statistics | End of 2022 |
| 76,800 | Residents born in Israel whose fathers were born in Ethiopia | Central Bureau of Statistics | End of 2022 |
The Bureau’s 168,800 counts the population of Ethiopian origin as Ethiopian-born residents plus Israeli-born residents with an Ethiopian-born father. A further 6,144 Israeli-born residents whose mother was born in Ethiopia sit outside that total. The “under 2%” is the Unit’s own figure, and no finer share is given here.
Complaint files fell from 458 in 2021 to 367
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism opened 367 complaint files in 2024, down from 458 in 2021, on its own count. The files are complaints the Unit opened across all population groups. They are not findings that racism occurred, and the report gives the Ethiopian-origin share for 2024 only.
The report states that the files do not reflect the overall extent of institutional racism. It states that a low count signals low awareness of the Unit and low trust, not an absence of racism.
A 2024 law erases public-order records of Ethiopian-Israelis
The Erasure of Criminal and Police Records of Ethiopian-Israelis Law passed its third reading in the Knesset on 16 July 2024. The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism stated in its Activity Report for 2024 that it was a central partner in the law. That account of the Unit’s role is the Unit’s own.
- Name: Erasure of Criminal and Police Records of Ethiopian-Israelis Law, Hebrew year 5784, 2024.
- Third reading: 16 July 2024.
- What it erases: public-order offence records of Ethiopian-Israelis.
- When it applies: under conditions stated in the law.
- The Unit’s role, as its own report describes it: central partner.
The 8,386 surveyed were public servants, not a national sample
The 48% is a share of public-service employees, not of Ethiopian Israelis generally. The Unit distributed its own survey from July to September 2024 to government ministries, statutory units and Rishon LeZion municipality, and Tel Aviv municipality distributed it separately. It asked about racism experienced and witnessed at work.
| Distribution channel | Respondents | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Government ministries, statutory units and Rishon LeZion municipality | 6,402 | July to September 2024 |
| Tel Aviv municipality, distributed separately | 1,984 | July to September 2024 |
| Total | 8,386 | July to September 2024 |
The survey counts respondents and the complaint shares count files. The 48% and the 16% are separate measures from the same report, and they do not form one series.
Which of these figures may not be combined?
- The 48%, 43%, 33%, 23%, 14% and 17% are shares of respondents to the Ministry of Justice unit’s own survey of public-service employees. The 39%, 16% and 15% are shares of the 367 complaint files that the same unit opened in 2024, on its own count.
- The 14% and the 17% may overlap, because one respondent can have both experienced and witnessed racism. The report gives their sum as 31%, which is therefore an upper bound on respondents reporting either.
- The report states that its 2024 questionnaire split “experienced” and “witnessed” into two questions where 2023 asked one, so the 2024 shares do not compare with the 2023 survey.
- The Bureau’s 168,800 refers to the end of 2022. The “under 2%” is the Unit’s own figure and may not be recomputed from it.
Questions readers ask
How many Ethiopian Israelis live in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 168,800 residents of Ethiopian origin at the end of 2022. That total counts Ethiopian-born residents and Israeli-born residents with an Ethiopian-born father.
How many Ethiopian Israelis were born in Israel?
The Central Bureau of Statistics counted 76,800 residents born in Israel to fathers born in Ethiopia at the end of 2022, approximately 45% of the population of Ethiopian origin. Approximately 92,100 were born in Ethiopia.
Which ministry runs Israel’s unit on racism?
The Ministry of Justice published the Unit’s Activity Report for 2024 on 20 April 2025, the Unit’s eighth annual report. The Unit sits within that ministry, and its report is a government body’s own account of its work.
Why was the unit set up?
The Ministry of Justice published that the Unit was set up under Government Decision 1958, following the inter-ministerial team on eradicating racism against Ethiopian-Israelis. That team was formed after protests in spring 2015.
Did Arab and Druze public servants report racism at work too?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism reported that 43% of Arab respondents and 33% of Druze respondents to its own 2024 survey had experienced racism at work. Among Haredi respondents the share was 23%.
How many public servants overall reported racism at work?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism found that 14% of all 8,386 respondents to its own survey reported experiencing racism at work in 2024. 17% reported witnessing it.
Is the number of complaints rising or falling?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism opened 367 complaint files in 2024, on its own count, against 373 in 2023, 415 in 2022 and 458 in 2021. The files cover all population groups.
Does a complaint count measure how much racism there is?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism stated that its complaint files do not reflect the overall extent of institutional racism. The report links a low count to low awareness of the Unit and low trust.
Which groups filed the most complaints in 2024?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism reported that, on its own count, 39% of its 367 complaint files in 2024 came from Arab society, 16% from citizens of Ethiopian origin and 15% from Haredi society.
What does the 2024 records law do?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism stated that the law erases public-order offence records of Ethiopian-Israelis under stated conditions. The Unit described itself in its own report as a central partner in the law.
When did the records law pass?
The Ministry of Justice published, in the Unit’s Activity Report for 2024, that the law passed its third reading on 16 July 2024.
Can the 2024 survey be compared with earlier years?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism stated that its 2024 questionnaire asked about experiencing and witnessing racism as two questions, where 2023 asked one. The report therefore treats the 2024 shares as not comparable with 2023.
Which municipalities took part in the survey?
The Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism reported that Rishon LeZion municipality was among the bodies it surveyed, and that Tel Aviv municipality distributed the survey separately, drawing 1,984 respondents.
Where can the report be read?
The Ministry of Justice published the Activity Report for 2024 on gov.il on 20 April 2025, in Hebrew, at 118 pages.
Sources
- Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023. The Population of Ethiopian Origin in Israel: Selected Data Published on the Occasion of the Sigd Festival 2023. Media release. https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2023/362/11_23_362e.pdf. Official or primary record (national statistics bureau).
- Ministry of Justice, Government Unit for Coordinating the Fight against Racism, 2025. דו״ח פעילות לשנת 2024 (Activity Report for 2024). The Unit’s eighth annual report, published 20 April 2025, in Hebrew. https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/reports/annual-report-2025/he/report-2025.pdf. Official or primary record (the government unit’s own annual report).
