The Office of the State Comptroller on Monday afternoon 7 Nissan 5774 released a report addressing poverty in Israel. The alarming report documents that in 2011, there were 894,000 poor residents including 306,000 children that due to the lack of money, often did not eat an entire day or cut back on meals and food regularly to manage with the meager means available to them during several months a year.
The report cites that despite the alarming reality, the government does almost nothing to address this, a reality that most residents are aware of as the chessed organizations have for many years doing what the government ignores. The report questions why the National Council for Nutritional Security has done next to nothing and points out the Welfare Ministry is not coming close to addressing the growing poverty in the country.
Speaking to Kol Berama Radio on Tuesday morning 8 Nissan, MK Rav Yisrael Eichler called for an end to the government’s discriminatory policies against the chareidi tzibur, lambasting the fact that Israel is at the bottom of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) nation’s regarding poverty. Eichler feels that the government simply ignores the matter and permits the chessed organizations to do what it is responsible to address. He is calling for the implementation of a national food stamps program to feed the poor.
MK Rav Moshe Gafne is calling on the finance minister to resign, explaining this would be the natural response in any properly functioning nation. He explains that in light of the damaging report, the appropriate ministers would have to accept accountability.
The director-general of the Welfare Ministry told Kol Berama that the report addresses a time period that preceded the current administration and today, many of the issues addressed in the report have already been corrected or on the way to being addressed.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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One Response
I assume the rate of diseases related to being overweight is falling?
Since poverty is heavily in the frum community, I assume the banquet halls are failing financially since most people can’t afford their services (and remember, hareidim and hilonim generally use different venues, so a frum hall reflects the economy of the frum community).
Strange, I haven’t seen pictures of emaciated children in Israel. Well maybe its since they are so modest we can’t see the bones sticking out of the skin.
Excuse me for being skeptical. If you study 20th century history, and look at relative standards of living, its hard to imagine Israel is in a crisis. And given the government inability to gather statistics about frum Jews, any government statistics are to be taken “with a grain of salt.”