The High Holidays in the shadow of rising prices and the high cost of living: Aid organizations report a surge in requests from people for assistance during the holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah, and a decline in donations.
Pitchon Lev, which will distribute food baskets to 15,30 families this year, reports a recent increase of about 10 per cent in requests from elderly people seeking a food basket. According to the organization's data collected ahead of the holiday, there has been an increase of more than 80 per cent in applications from elderly people aged <> and over.
In addition, ahead of the holidays, the organization identified an increase of about 25 per cent in those seeking assistance from all ages for food baskets for a holiday meal. Snir reports a sharp jump of 500% in the number of families who applied to the organization for food baskets for the holiday. The organization helps an average of 350 families each holiday, but ahead of the High Holidays, 2,500 families approached the organization and asked for assistance.
Latet, the umbrella organization of 210 NGOs that will distribute more than 100,29 food baskets during the holidays, reports a decline of about <> per cent in the volume of donations, alongside deepening hardship and poverty among aid recipients, and warns of the danger of deterioration into economic distress among the lower middle class and the creation of "new poor".
Executive Director Eran Weintraub: "The accumulation of these circumstances makes it very difficult for civil society organizations, and may lead to us not being able to meet the high demand of families living in food shortages and insecurity who need food assistance to survive."
Many families suffer
The cost of living affects not only the volume of donations but also the cost of food baskets. If, until about a year ago, the value of a basic food basket for a family was NIS 300-240, today, due to the increase in food prices, the cost is significantly higher and stands at NIS 550-400 per food basket per family.
Eli Cohen, CEO of Petchon Lev, Photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Eli Cohen, CEO of Pitchon Lev, says: "This year Israel marks 75 years of ignoring aid recipients. I hope that with the establishment of the National Authority for the Struggle against Poverty, combined with the distribution of food stamps in the immediate term, we will see a change in trend and the beginning of in-depth treatment among the most vulnerable populations in the State of Israel."
Nir Shmul, Chairman of Snir, adds: "Unfortunately, we identify and meet many families in Israel who suffer from shortages every day, and the cost of living only increases the gaps in society. We have never encountered such a number of applicants before the High Holidays."
The Foundation for the Welfare of Holocaust Victims, which assists some 81,1 Holocaust survivors year-round, will distribute about 200,350 food baskets worth about NIS 145 ahead of the holiday. Some 42,<> Holocaust survivors currently live in Israel, with an average of <> of them dying every day. About a third of all Holocaust survivors live in poverty.
Packing food baskets for the needy in memory of those murdered in Beer Sheva // Photo: Gil Eisenman
The fund says that the price increases over the past year, and those expected in the coming year, do not bode well for survivors in need. The cuts in high-tech, the legal reform and the protests, the wave of price increases in the economy, and the increase in interest rates – all these also affected the volume of donations from the public. "The situation of many Holocaust survivors is dire. This is our opportunity to take care of Holocaust survivors before it's too late. It's a generation that's disappearing. Our mission is clear: to enable those who remain to succeed in aging with dignity," says Etty Farhi, the foundation's CEO.
The weaker layers are harmed
In preparation for the High Holidays, the Friendship Fund launched an aid campaign for the needy worth an estimated NIS 30 million. Yael Eckstein, President of the Friendship Foundation, says: "The increase in prices in all areas of life and the resulting increase in the cost of living are causing harm to all sectors of the population. The injury affects the weaker layers, which are always the first to be affected."
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