When J came to us at the rights center in Hadera a month ago, it took him a while to tell his story. C received 30 percent of disability a decade ago, following a serious illness. Didn't get a dime from the state because he worked. With notable persistence, he maintained his work in a metal factory for years. Until the corona arrived. He was discharged to the USSR, and now received a dismissal notice. He is still recovering from a hard work accident that went through there, and is preparing for surgery.

This is one story of hundreds upon hundreds we have been dealing with in recent months. People work. People living on poor subsistence allowances. Women, who do not receive alimony from their children's father, without supplement from Social Security. People with disabilities who continue to struggle to increase disability benefits, as enacted by the Israeli government from January 2020. We have also become, without a choice, the Center for the Exercise of Rights to provide the most basic humanitarian services: food for hungry families. Computers for children, who are asked to study remotely without any technological option. Single seniors. Disconnected from water and electricity. 

The important struggle of the stage and tourism workers, and the small businesses that collapse, is the tip of the iceberg. They need the back of the country, but strong enough to shout. You do not see the destitute. The poor are completely transparent. 

In all of this, Netanyahu's appeal, with regard to tax refunds and expenses, is important. This is the first crack in the understanding that something unusual is going on. Last week I met with prominent Likud supporters who did not spare the curses for this detached demand. Israel is in the worst economic crisis in its history, the situation is likely to get worse, and the prime minister and his people are spending time transferring the state's money to one of Israel's richest politicians, with a fortune of NIS 50 million, according to Forbes.

The deal with unilateral annexation, which is about to start today, is also difficult to understand. Surveys show that only 4 percent of the public consider annexing a central issue. About 70 percent clearly say there is one issue that should be of interest to the government now: the economic situation. The rapid response to the outbreak of the virus is coming down the drain these days. It turns out that the months we "gained" in closure were not used to build effective systems for testing and preventing adhesive chains. The economic failure is everywhere. Israel leads the Western countries in unemployment rates. In August, about half a million Israelis will face an economic "death wall" when their eligibility for unemployment benefits ends. In no jobs, the only alternative would be to receive a monthly income guarantee of NIS 2,000. Go live for one week of this amount.

Netanyahu made the same U-turn in his personal case, which should also be done on the subject of annexation. It is time to work to curb the epidemic, assist the hundreds of thousands of economically broken and millions of the poor, and build a state budget to support economic recovery and prosperity. Not annexation time.

Avi Dabush is CEO of Human Rights Rabbis and a member of the leadership of the Periphery Movement