must do everything to help people earn what they need. We can not help everybody but everybody can help somebody. Don t wait for the State to do the necessary. If we want it, it is up to us. What do we wait? Let s go!

20% of the population living below the poverty line. 900,000 children included. Shameful! Israel continues to be at the top when it comes to poverty and economic inequality rates in the Western world. And the Zio-idiots on here go on and on about how wonderful and progressive Israel is. The Holy land? No way. The promised land? You can keep it.

and then they complain they don't have. PS.. Stop buying dreck you really don't need Buy you needs, not your wants. Its simple..I know people who became very wealthy while earning very little, all because they knew how to save a dollar. Of course today we live in an entittlement age where everyone no matter how old figures that someone owes then a living. PS...No one owes you anything. That government cheque will come to an end and then you'll be eating real dreck.That I can promise you.

they need help.

More whinging and moaning from the little people: you are idle, lazy layabouts, work harder and you'll do just fine!

The poor do not need your patronizing " advice ."

Worldwide now the budgets don't stretch as far as it once did, I was in the UK for the festivals and I was amazed how expensive food was there right now. My mother says her weekly shop has gone up by about £30, the money my parents are earning stays the same the prices for goods goes up so they have to make spending cutbacks.I imagine this is a problem we are now seeing in Israel especially because this country imports most things and prices get passed on by the Israeli companies and the buyers are hit hardest especially people at the very bottom of the scale. Poverty is a mixture of many things and there is no government that can offer a quick fix. There will always be more that can be done but its not just a matter of saying well we give more money to a certain ministry and problem solved, these are issues that cannot be solved overnight. Wages is not something the government cant solve because governments can't order companies to pay more, as long as they meet minimum wage its an issue between employer and employee. We should also remember that when companies start paying people more they don't hire as many people so the people in jobs earn more but there are more people out of work and suffering financially as a result. Addressing poverty is always a balancing act for any government but analysts & idealists to believe it is just a matter of pressing the no more poverty button.

far more harder than tycoons. If the only thing you possess is money,then you are very poor.

To get out of poverty, you must work...The state cannot and will not support bums...

Then you'll see how pissed off you shall be. Unless you are infirm, insane of just plain dumb you should have saved a dime in your life. Seeing from your posts I would venture to say..you are plain nuts lazy and dumb.

Exactly Sonia, we will keep Israel. We wont be giving Israel away. That's a promise.

I wonder what the figures are after eliminating the members of the praying classes who choose proverty by having more children than they can afford.

sense of entittlement. If you have two hands, two feet, you can take a dump and you have a brain in your head, then you can go to work and pay your way. if you choose to make kids with not a care in the world and expect others to feed them then you ought to be castrated. I for one am sick and tired of the moochers, the shirkers and whiners. Get over yourselves, get to work, save a dime and like the wack job poet likes to say..."PISS OFF".

In Israel and those populations that do work the problem happens to be the very low wages and very high living expenses. I live very frugally but what is a killer are the sky high rentals that swallow up from 50 to 60% of ones income and earning just above a basic salary of NIS4000 a month !!! What happens is that I am becoming the working poor , with no means to get capital to further my education or start a business as banks are tight with credit !! So what does do ??? Leave Israel ....... that thought is screaming to me more and more everyday !!!!!! Very sad.

its called Democracy at its finest. It might not be perfect but Ill take it any day !

Dear Mr. "Teuly amazed " , your attitude towards the many poor here in Israel is ,quite frankly , unjewish . The jewish ethics teaches us to be sympathetic and helpful towards those who are ,for whichever reason , less fortunate than ourselves. You ,Al ,come across as rather angry and judgemental and also arrogant. You could do with being more sympathetic. In addition , you do not reside here in Israel but you are not shy in pontificating from afar.

Are u also willing to eliminate Muslim classes, with multiple wives and many children, or just the Haredi Jews?

How is the Israel poverty level arrived at? At my local store many people run a tab and I asked the owner why he allows it. He told me that many of his customers couldn't pay cash until the end of the month. I asked him, "Do they have cable TV; broadband; and at least one cellphone per person, and he answered "yes". Most Israelis are incredibly spoiled and go into debt to get the latest of everything. These pictures of empty fridges are not serious. Nobody need to go without food in Israel because many religious groups will have food delivered to the door of somebody that says that they have no food. There are no strings attached because the religious consider it a mitzva. * A good deed done from religious duty. And "yes" it's true because I know somebody that makes the deliveries.

we have in the labor courts. If you steal from the workers you should be fined three times the amount that will compensate the workers. You should sit in prison for a full year the first time you get caught stealing workers' wages and/or benefits.The next time five years and you lose all you money and property,even if you put it under someone else' name. The same goes for anyone in the office that helps you steal, like bookkeepers, lower management, etc. If there are strict labor laws and they are enforced, then it will cut the poverty level for many workers. We also need the government to inform us of all Israeli companies that moved their production lines out of Israel. Many times people will see a company brand on a product and think if they buy it, they are buying from Israel and supporting Israeli workers. Not so in a lot of cases.

Even if you have a full time payed job you can be/live under the poverty line unfortunately in this world. Have you ever heard of the working poor? Even if you work full time you have no guarantee that you never/ do not become/stay poor. Other people can be/live in/under other circumstances/situations than you. For example suitable law and legislation (in a country) perhaps can help to solve that problem/issue in a just and right possible way.