Social Equality Minister Meirav Cohen is in charge of distributing the 30 billion shekels of the government’s five-year plan for Arab society. It’s no surprise that a woman who holds the keys to the coalition’s survival with the United Arab List and who is also trying to promote feminism, is angering a lot of people

It’s an ideal sunny morning in the Arab fishing village of Jisr al-Zarqa on the Mediterranean coast. Turquoise rivulets drift shoreward from the small coves. A fisherman repairs his net. Seagulls hover overhead. If this unfortunate community has any hope, this strip of seafront, which has often been compared to the shoreline of the Sinai Peninsula, is its best prospect. But Social Equality Minister Meirav Cohen, paying a professional visit to the village, is not swept up by the spirit of optimism that emanates from the cafés that abut the water. In fact, these coffee houses are precisely what’s bothering her.

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