In this article from the Huffington Post, Sigal Alon, associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Tel Aviv University and the author of Race, Class, and Affirmative Action, compares the affirmative action policies in universities in Israel and the United States. As opposed to the American policy, based on race and ethnicity, the affirmative action programs in Israel’s top universities aim to achieve diversity and equality based on the socio-economic class of applicants’ neighborhoods and high schools. Using the examples of two students – an Arab-Israeli and a Mizrahi Jew from a development town – this explores the pros, cons and reasons behind such a policy.