The government has failed in its effort to reduce poverty in Israel,
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss said Sunday evening.
Speaking at a conference held at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Lindenstrauss said, "a hungry child does not captivate the public's mind, and the media have failed to get to the root of the problem. We've apparently lost our social solidarity."
The comptroller mentioned the grim poverty report for the first half of 2008, which said there were more than 770,000 Israeli children living under the poverty line. "These figures caused a public outcry that lasted only one day," he said.
"A month-and-a-half ago it was reported that the CEO of one of the country's central banks earns NIS 9 million ($2.16 million) a year and another earns NIS 17.6 million ($4.22 million). The salaries in the public sector are even higher. Can we, as Israelis, agree to such a gap that is growing wider before our eyes?"
Lindenstrauss called on Prime Minister-designator Benjamin Netanyahu to address the issue, saying "the State must intervene more and work toward reducing poverty and the social gaps. This will be one of the next government's key missions.
"(Netanyahu) will obviously have to deal with more urgent challenges, particularly those related to security and the economy. But a progressive democratic state, a welfare state, cannot remain oblivious to the plight of the individual," he said.
RSS
