Over one-quarter of Israelis living in poverty: Report

An Israeli non-profit organization says more than one-quarter of all Israelis are living in poverty and that the number of poor children exceeds one million.

News ID: 447918

Date: 10 December 2019 - 11:26

RNA - In its annual "alternative" poverty report published on Monday, Latet said over 2.3 million Israelis and 530,000 families are currently living in poverty, including more than one million children.

The report measures poverty according to households lacking essential needs in housing, education, healthcare, food security and ability to cover the cost of living.

Latet also reported an increase in the depth of poverty and barriers to poverty reduction.

Latet chairman Gilles Darmon and executive director Eran Weintrob said for many years, Israeli regimes have maintained poverty through a poor set of priorities that has abandoned one-quarter of the population.

"Not only is there no multi-year operative program and an established policy, but everything is also stuck. But unlike politics, our lives and those of the poor living among us do not stop," they said in a joint statement.

The Latet report comes as the so-called National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) is due to publish an official poverty report, which measures poverty based on income alone, later this month.

The alternative measuring tool records an additional 526,000 individuals as living in poverty, compared to the official report published in December last year.

Israel’s political system has been in disarray for the last year, in large part because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal woes.

The Israeli attorney general announced last month charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust against Netanyahu in three different corruption cases, dubbed Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000.

The corruption cases have earned him the nickname “crime minister” by Israelis, who had been holding regular rallies in front of the attorney general’s residence to promote his indictment.

Two elections held this year ended in deadlock. Neither Netanyahu, nor Benny Gantz, the leader of center-left Blue and White political alliance, had enough support in parliament to form a cabinet.

Israeli lawmakers have less than a month to organize a coalition and select a candidate who could lead a 61-majority in the 120-seat legislature. There are strong indications that the legislators will not succeed, which means Israel will have to hold elections for the third time this year.

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