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1 in 4 Israelis Experienced Food Insecurity in 2024: Anti-Poverty NGO

Israel has one of the developed world’s highest rates of poverty among children, with more than one-third of Israeli children experiencing food insecurity

אירוע לציון יום המאבק בעוני 2024 בכנסת (צילום: ללא קרדיט)
A discussion in the Knesset last week about poverty in Israel.
By Hadas Yom Tov

Last week, the Knesset held a special session focused on poverty in Israel. Just days before the passage of the budget, which many experts say will hit Israel’s weakest sectors hardest, Israelis living in poverty came to the Knesset to share their struggles.

Zehava, a mother of four who makes just 5,000 shekels ($1,383) each month, told the Knesset that she has to pay 10,000 shekels ($2,769) to keep her mother in a nursing home. “How can I live? Three of my children were in Gaza this year. One of them was injured, he is still in rehabilitation. I visit him every day, and I have to take care of the other three as well. Life has become a daily struggle for survival,” she said. “I really have no way of taking care of everything.”

“The price goes up, you’re forced to buy simple food, compromise on your health, and pay the price,” Liat, another mother of four, said. “I don’t want the next generation after me to continue the cycle. When one turns to welfare and there’s no social worker who can help, they probably will live in poverty too. If we don't address the roots—welfare, education—we’ll only widen the cycle.”

Olga Barban, head of research and policy change at Latet, Israel’s largest anti-poverty nonprofit organization, said that 25% of Israelis were living with food insecurity in 2024, including 13.5% in severe food insecurity.

Among those experiencing food insecurity are over 1 million children, of 34.1% of Israel’s children. Furthermore, 19.9% of children in Israel (628,000 children) live in severe food insecurity. Israel has the third highest proportion of children living below the poverty line among OECD countries.

An additional 152,000 elderly people live below the poverty line, many of them single elderly people, who are required to live on a monthly allowance of only 4,172 shekels ($1,156).

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, 34% of families receiving welfare in 2024 applied due to poor economic conditions. This is an increase of 2 percentage points from 2023. According to estimates, the effects of the war on the economic situation in the north and south are the reason for the increase.

The ministry announced that following the Supreme Court’s recent decision on food stamps, the number of families eligible to receive supplemental nutrition assistance will increase from 26,000 to approximately 50,000 families.

“The cuts in the 2024 and 2025 budget detract from compensation and severely harm the weakest populations,” lawmaker Eti Atiya of the Likud party, who initiated the discussion, said. “Especially at this time when the cost of living is rising in all areas, there are items in the budget that severely harm the poor. I have promoted many laws in the past and present to help those who cannot afford life in Israel, laws some of which have stalled these days due to the wartime order of priorities. It is our duty to allow people to disconnect from the benefit system, to take them out of the cycle of poverty and to enter the labor market. A budget for such laws will pay for itself in return, and there is no reason to stop it.”

Becky Cohen-Keshet of the Forum Against Poverty said that the day had shed light on “a serious systemic crisis” of poverty in Israel. “The war only deepened the existing gaps, but it also provided a historic opportunity for change,” she said. “The solutions are on the table—all that is required is a courageous decision to implement them.”

This article was translated from Hebrew by Matthew Levy.

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