interesting timing of both articles...

...for the "land of milk and honey", as I have been hearing my friends talking about it.

It is wicked and unjust that children go to bed hungry and the big fat members of the knesset go to bed on a full stomach from their overly inflated salaries that WE, the working Israeli public pay for. Makes me SICK

who were hailing Israeli high tech economy????

is that 80% of the kids that are under poverty line are in the arabic sector. Just goes to show how neglected this sector is when it comes to job creation and economical opportunities.

Rami, mate... the State is not a nanny. And it shouldn't be, especially not to a population which largely defines itself as not part of this state, and indeed inimical to the state. And the said population are experts of creating poverty - through tribalism, lack of desire for education, lack of respect for the law, fundamentalism, repressive cultural practices, teenage marriages, excessive amounts of children... When Arabs living in Israel become Israelis, their lives will improve tremendously. Until then - sorry, Philistines will be Philistines. Also please note the differences between Christian and Muslim Arabs living in Israel.

The high poverty level is due to Israel's very low work-force participation level compared to other western nations. There is no surprise that Israeli Arabs and Ortodox Israelis who have very low work-force participation levels also have by far, the largest families and highest poverty levels. Israel's economy is today growing faster than most other western nations and the average standard of living keeps increasing. The Israeli Arabs and Ortodox Israelis are going through an integration process where they gradually join the work-force and get higher education, which will decrease their family sizes and significantly decrease the poverty levels. Wealth and economic development is achieved through work and not through social welfare.

To add Minimum wages should be consided a social crime given the 18 shekel/hour many employers pay in Israel. Some parents work around the clock only to know the money is gone by the middle of the month. Very (extremelly) disadvantaged individuals should get more social welfare, like single parents, disabled, etc.

People should never have more children they are able to support. I also very much doubt you statistic for Arabs accounting for the 80% of the poor since the article clearly mentions that 25% immigrant children live in a single parent families and single-parent families tend to be poor, especially if that single parent also happens to be new to the country.

"The high poverty level is due to Israel's very low work-force participation level compared to other western nations. There is no surprise that Israeli Arabs and Ortodox Israelis who have very low work-force participation levels also have by far, the largest families and highest poverty levels. " Israel has the highest % of working age population *not seeking work.* This factor accounts for people serving in the army and for the disabled. Of course there is a lot of overpaind and overfed executives in both the private and public sectors. It is far to easy for people in professions to collect fees under the table to avoid reporting income to tax authorities. But a large % of the poor in Israel is poor by choice, or poor by their parents choice. A very sad, and very undeniable part of the poverty here.