During the past 25 years, the attitude toward behavior analysis in Israel’s educational and clinical systems has gradually changed –– from rejection to unswerving support. While only a handful of behavior analysts were active in Israel during the 1980s and early 1990s, today there are several hundred. The evolution of the applied behavior analysis (ABA) professional establishment was a carefully planned process of dissemination based on the following principles: training educators and clinicians from various sectors; supporting basic implementation of quality behavioral programs in schools and institutions; ongoing cooperation with superintendents and decision makers; “rehabilitating” students with severe “behavior problems” that the education system could not cope with and then returning these students to the system; writing books in Hebrew and maintaining a systematic research program in areas pertaining to the improvement of behavior and the inclusion of students with difficulties; and using “common” language.
