The Labor and Welfare Committee held a discussion on food security issues in light of the war on Tuesday. The discussion was held at the request of a number of Knesset members and included an annual report by the Food Security Council to the committee on its activities.
Welfare Minister Yaakov Margi said at the start of the discussion: "About 430,000 families are being treated by social services, of which 108,50 are in need, poverty and food insecurity. The food security initiative began with a NIS 2022 million pilot and today and starting in 150 operates with a budget of NIS 26 million in various configurations, including 000,2 prepaid food cards and 600,15 cards for the purchase of formula. Great significance must also be given to the umbrella organizations that have become the executive arm of the state. In the context of Iron Swords, additional steps were taken and we were attentive to the needs that arose from the field. We added about 000,7 food cards worth about NIS <> million and a flexible budget for distribution to districts."
Committee Chairman MK Eichler said: "We need to change the concept on welfare issues as well, so that every citizen will have housing, food and clothing instead of the treasury getting rich and the citizens impoverished."
Projects are not enough, we need a national plan
During the discussion, some of the participants expressed criticism of the criteria of the food ticket distribution project, which currently operates under the Ministry of the Interior with a budget of about NIS 2024 billion. According to MK Merav Cohen, the government has committed to examining and changing the criteria in <>, which are based, among other things, on eligibility for a property tax discount and, according to her, lead to an unequal distribution relative to various populations in need of assistance." Those who are not included in this group are required to actively apply, and there are many needy people, including Holocaust survivors, who are unable to do so," Cohen said. "There was also a demand to transfer the issue of food cards to the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is responsible for caring for disadvantaged populations."
"30 percent are food insecure" (illustration),
A number of organizations, including Leket Israel and Latet, presented their activities since the outbreak of hostilities to the committee, warned of worsening poverty and food insecurity, and called on the state to allocate additional budgets for the organizations' activities as an executive arm for providing assistance to disadvantaged populations.
Prof. Roni Strier, Chairman of the National Food Security Council, presented the Council's activities over the past year, saying: "We learned in the Poverty Report that 30% of adult populations in Israel, or about 2,100,000 people, are food insecure. A survey found that about 18% of people in Israel fall into the category of those who have experienced hunger in the past year. This is a huge scale, far above the OECD average. Therefore, what we need is not projects, but a national plan. The notes are welcome, but it's not food security – you need to exhaust your rights, be accompanied by social workers. I would love that the billion shekels would go to the Ministry of Social Affairs in a way that will strengthen the social services that are collapsing. The council convened 30 brilliant minds from the field and we asked them to issue an opinion on the matter."
"18 percent of people in Israel fall into the category of those who have experienced hunger in the past year," Photo: AFP
Regarding the council's activities since the outbreak of hostilities, he said: "In the first days of the war, we set up an inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral table, we sat 8 government ministries with the 4 umbrella organizations and tried to coordinate the issue of food security in emergencies, we raised these recommendations to the government and we are still waiting for an answer."
MK Yoni Mishraki: "We have begun to promote the law establishing the Authority for the Struggle against Poverty, because we need one authority that will integrate the handling of the issue. An authority that can plan a national plan and will also have enough power in raising red flags in front of government ministries in order to stand up and take action, to give the state tools to deal with the issue of poverty."
Hungry people in the field
Tzofia Schneider, a single mother with limbs from Ashdod, testified before the committee about the difficulty and hunger her family faces: "You are fighting between right and left, Arabs and Jews, and hungry people on the ground. Since October 9, I've been distributing food to women, the elderly, and from my disability allowance I cook for the homeless. I was told in municipal taxes that my total income divided by 2 is above average and therefore I am not entitled to a prepaid card. Tell me that my 13-year-old daughter doesn't deserve to live with dignity. We are hungry and we want food. I envied the kidnapped for eating a quarter of pita a day."
"We were attentive to the needs that arose from the field." Minister Yaakov Margi, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
"Following the war, the Welfare Ministry has to take care of many new families," said MK Meir Cohen. "I think there should be a clear call for the government not to cut any ministry budget, on the contrary. We need to strengthen the ministry and the responses it provides to citizens. We need to create synchronization with the NGOs that do very significant work and constitute an important executive arm of the ministry."
MK Ahmad Tibi addressed the state of poverty in Arab society. "66 percent of children are below the poverty line. The food card project is important and helps many families, but the percentage of Arabs who receive them is relatively low." Welfare Minister Margi replied that there is an administrative difficulty in utilizing the food card benefit in some Arab municipalities and that professional work is currently being done on the issue.
Summing up the discussion, committee chairman MK Eichler said: "Once upon a time, the State of Israel understood that the welfare of the citizen must be above all else, that he should have a home and food, and from there we move forward. Today, too, it needs to understand that just as security and education must be taken care of, welfare must also be taken care of. We will be happy to help promote the establishment of the Anti-Poverty Authority and to promote any legislation that will help distribute surplus food or assistance to the needy. I call on the Ministry of Social Affairs to increase assistance to NGOs that have proven their activity during and before the war. I also call for the transfer of the issue of food stamps to the Ministry of Social Affairs."
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