There is the haredi and arab sector who are generally either unemployed doing low paid work. I would also like to know if this poll include foreign workers who overstayed their welcome long ago and are calling themselves Israelis. Alliyah is a proble In most western countries if the country needs professionals with certain skills then they let them emigrate. In Israel it doesn't matter if your skilled or unskilled as long as your Jewish your welcome. The mass airlifts from the third world only adds to the underclass and there are more coming in with no skills or savings than professionals who can contribute to the economy. There are a growing number of people who have done well for themselves through start ups and foreign investment. They of course are very well paid and more foreign business is starting to come. There are a number of issues its not just black and white but economically Israel is less that ten years old. Less than a decade ago the shekel was worthless and people prefered doing business in the $US because it was stable. Now in less than a decade ( largely as a result of reforms Bibi made as finance minister under Sharon everything is different ) Israel has traditionally been based on socialist economics, and Labor has been tearing itself apart over it with old school like Mitzna & Yuli Tamir v modernizers like Barak who understands the need for economic change. I think those old socialist attitudes also don't encourage people to try and do what it takes to get ahead. In the US for example the American dream is the little guy can come with nothing and make it big. Socialist doctrine doesn't say make it big it says the state will provide. Its going to take time but I think eventually Israel will find its feet.

Those were the days when Israel was more "equal", but they were equally struggling. Even through the mid 1980s Israel was dealing with inflation, an ever-declining shekel, and inefficiencies. So yes, today Israel is dealing with growing socio-economic gaps, but no one is starving, and everyone has a roof over their heads. The more powerful unions have a "getting what's ours" attitude that ignores workers that don't even get minimum wage, while the heads of banks and major industries pay themselves obscene salaries. But Israel will eventually get a better balance. In the meantime, the country has a broad social net helping those in need. And one should ignore neither the broad "underground" economy that doesn't show in the economic data nore the choices many make, like the haredi men who live lives of struggle because they've chosen "the study of Torah as their profession".

Welfare benefits do not make you rich.

The study on which this article is based is sheer nonsense on stilts. Well, actually, it's socialism with a statistical face. Societies in which there is income equality -- such as Moldova -- are socialist societies in which the wealthy few party operatives at the top decide how little to dole out to the workers below them. In modern societies people who work hard and create things benefit from their labor and ideas, while people with little initiative and people who don't work seriously earn less. Would you go to the trouble and expense of going to the university if the university degree entitled you to earn two or three times more than a worker who pushes a broom earns? Of course not. Getting extra education, working harder, and taking extra economic risks should get rewarded, not looked down upon because it skews some statistic-gatherer's socialist assumptions. And, on top of that, people who earn more also pay more taxes, while people who earn less either pay little or no taxes or are drains on the tax budget. In the US the top 10% of earners pay 50% of the taxes, while the bottom 50% of earners not only pay NO taxes, they get various forms of assistance from the govt.

care about the minimum wage earners. I work for a security company and I never received any paid holidays. There are 10 each year. The company receives the money from the government, then pockets it. There is no overtime and they stopped paying beit Avrah. Some of my friends who worked for 10 or more years never received it once.They do not pay vacation days. The list goes on. The government from the min of labor to the tax people never investigated our company.The histadrut does not give a damn about minimum wage earners. Plenty of my friends have complained to them, but nothing was done. Maybe the tax people could investigate? There will be no fair treatment of the workers till they organize under a new union and form their own political party.

of the Labour party you starved. Yeah thats when Israel was a bastion of modernity and equality.Everyone was equal except if you a member of Histashmutz, you were more equal. Sure...Oh yeah I remember those times very well. Thank G-d Israel has left those times behind. An open market will make Israel wealthy. As for the young people, learn a trade and get to work. There is tons of money to be made in Israel today. You only have to want to work!

being a renta cop will get you killed. I told my kids, they have one of two options. 1) I will pay for them to goto school to earn a degree in a profession or they can goto a trade school to learn a trade. 2) There is no other option besides #1. I will never ever subsidize a 'I cant work, or work is to dirty for me' lifestyle.

The labor laws in this country are very strict and the courts favor the workers. If you have not been paid what you are entitled to and have saved the records, you can take your employer to court and there is an excellent chance of collecting back wages plus interest. I would however suggest you only sue an employer after you have left his employ. You can sue in labor court without a lawyer. Being a security guard is a crappy job. You can't depend on it for the rest of your life. I know some students who do it while they go to college. The best thing to do is get some job skills and then look for a better job. People who get an education can get good jobs in Israel. I am a teacher and I have a lot of students who aren't interested in learning. So years from now should I feel sorry for them if they are poor? Do I need to support them because they were too lazy to learn English and math for 12 years? If they prefer to spend their money on a backpacking trip through a third world country rather than investing in college or other job training is it my fault? If haredim or Arab women refuse to work do my taxes need to support them. People need to take responsibility for themselves.

You are both so arrogant .Do you think that Jason #6 wants or dreams about being a security guard ? he does it because his options are limited.Him and a million other israelis. Israel is all about who one knows not what one knows.

Bravo you hit the nail on the head !!! I lived in Israel and have a degree in accounting and was only offered manual work , I decided to leave because I had the choice to leave , Israel only works if you are under 25yrs old and get all the benefits I was sadly 34 yrs , you have enormous amounts of money or you are a high tech worker , I was told by employment agent a min of a masters degree in software engineering for that good job. Or have PROTEXIA which I also did not have. So what was I to do live in sheer poverty as I was heading into , eating one meal a day and 60% of my miniscule salary spent on rent , is that a quality life ? If a country does not give one the opportunity for the basic human rights of dignity then what , sadly myself and many more olim with skills had to go back to the galut with a heavy heart.

The only thing Jason does is to complain . But to try to have a better job than a security one , no , that's to much . As someone wrote , students do security jobs to pay for their studies . To difficult for Jason ? He prefers to complain , that's easy .

That's maybe not such a wanted profession here , you made a bad choice . But you could , if you wanted , study something that gives you more possibilities . People with a right education are sought , without any need for protexia . I knew someone who was disavantaged : a newly married orthodox woman . Orthodox women = children = absence . She was accepted in a high Tech company , and they did'nt regret it . But she had a wanted profession , that's what counts .

What a joke. First off all the poverty stats in Israel are distorted. The haredim choose to live in poverty and the arab sector does half its business under the table. Second, if you want to see real income gaps go to the USA and England.