Growing up in poverty does not automatically lead politicians to see inequality as a problem requiring government intervention, according to a Hebrew University of Jerusalem study. Interviews with former Israeli lawmakers found that detailed memories of childhood deprivation could accompany an emphasis on individual effort rather than the social barriers facing disadvantaged communities.
Dr. Shiran Tayeb Elmakias of the university’s Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare conducted the research under the guidance of Prof. Momi Dahan of the Federmann School of Public Policy and Government. Recently published in the journal Representation, the study examines how former legislators relate their early experiences to their understanding of poverty, ethnicity and political responsibility.
The research drew on in-depth interviews with 15 former Knesset members who served between 1992 and 1999. Nine were of Mizrahi background and six were of Ashkenazi origin. Participants came from several political parties and included lawmakers who had served in both government coalitions and the opposition. The interviews explored their personal histories, explanations for poverty and discrimination, and sense of responsibility toward people experiencing hardship.
Mizrahi participants recalled difficult childhood conditions, including overcrowded transit camps in the 1950s, tents or basic housing without electricity or running water, and parents struggling to provide food. Ashkenazi interviewees generally reported greater financial security while growing up. Those who described severe deprivation tended to understand it as a circumstance particular to their families rather than part of a wider ethnic experience.
Despite those differences, participants across backgrounds expressed a broad commitment to assisting people in need. Yet former lawmakers who had escaped poverty often presented their own achievements as evidence that others could advance through determination and hard work. Tayeb Elmakias told The Jerusalem Post that accounts of hardship among lawmakers from historically disadvantaged Jewish communities frequently gave way to explanations centered on self-reliance when the discussion shifted to ethnic inequality.
The findings challenged the researcher’s expectation that experiences of poverty and discrimination would carry into lawmakers’ political approaches. Her analysis suggests that a shared background alone does not establish shared views about what causes disadvantage or how it should be addressed. The meaning politicians assign to their experiences, she argued, is central to understanding how they see their responsibilities toward the communities they come from.
The study has significant limits. It involved a small group of former Jewish lawmakers, excluded Arab legislators from poor backgrounds and relied on recollections shaped by memory and subsequent interpretation. It did not directly examine legislative votes or establish whether participants’ views produced particular policies. Tayeb Elmakias also cautioned that the interviews cannot establish how current politicians think. She said the findings do not diminish the importance of representation by people from different backgrounds, but underline the need to examine how legislators explain their lives alongside the identities they share with constituents.
