The Labor and Welfare Committee discussed on Wednesday the findings of the National Insurance Institute’s 2024 Poverty Report, published in late January 2026, as well as responses and budgets for ensuring food security. According to the report, about two million people in Israel are currently living in poverty, including roughly 880,000 children.
At the start of the debate, Committee Chair MK Michal Woldiger (Religious Zionism) said, “The report presents a troubling and clear picture: poverty rates remain high and in some populations are even worsening. Behind the numbers are children, working families, seniors, and people with disabilities – people for whom food security is not a theoretical concept but a daily question of living with dignity. Poverty harms a person’s dignity and ability to fulfill themselves; it harms society because it erodes solidarity and deepens gaps; it harms the economy because it damages human capital and growth; and it is certainly bad for our national resilience. Torah may come from the poor, but a properly-run country should not accept a reality in which children go to sleep hungry. Our responsibility as a society and as lawmakers is to ensure they have a full plate, basic conditions, and the opportunity to realize their potential.”
MK Adi Ezuz (Yesh Atid), one of the initiators of the debate, said, “My stomach tightened when I heard the data on the number of citizens and children living without food security. Nearly a million hungry children is a severe, difficult, and sad figure we cannot allow to exist here. Last year, the establishment of the National Authority to Combat Poverty was approved, and I want to know whether that has happened and where it stands. We are currently dealing with the state budget and I would like to know what scope of funding will be allocated to fighting poverty and for food security next year, in the hope that we will be able to say we did more and improved the situation.”
MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash-Ta’al), also among those who initiated the debate, said, “We all agree poverty and food insecurity are about much more than money – they also include humiliation and exclusion, and very low self-esteem that accompanies and affects a person for life. I see the privatization of welfare as the central problem. With all due respect to nonprofits, who do holy work, this is the result of the withdrawal and removal of the state’s responsibility.”
MK Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), also among those who initiated the debate, said, “The gaps in our society are very large, and there are children suffering from malnutrition and going to bed hungry, which leads to severe health and social consequences. Many organizations and individuals are doing important work, and this is also the place to thank them and stress the importance of advancing additional solutions.”
MK Naama Lazimi (Labor), also among the initiators, said, “Twenty percent of Israel’s population lives below the poverty line; 880,000 children. That is the highest rate among Western countries, and it’s not opening newscasts. People talk about the health damage, but I want to talk about equal opportunity. A hungry child or a child who eats unhealthy food is a child who cannot realize his potential. As policy, eliminating food insecurity is the most beneficial thing for the economy, and it is not only for the poor and disadvantaged. We welcome the work of civil society, but there must also be a state.”
Yochi Iluz, Director of the Food Security Division at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs, noted that the National Authority to Combat Poverty has not yet begun operating. She reviewed the ministry’s programs and budgets in the field of poverty reduction and food security. According to Iluz, the government budget for the food security initiative for 2025-2026 was NIS 180 million, which enabled the ministry to expand the program and assist about 44,000 families, compared to fewer than 30,000 in previous years. However, she noted that the budget is expected to run out at the end of April 2026, and the ministry is awaiting budget approval and the Finance Ministry’s response regarding additional funding to continue the program at its current scale.
Tair Rabukhin of the Finance Ministry’s Budget Department explained that the fixed government budget for the food security initiative stands at NIS 90 million per year, with an additional NIS 90 million granted as a one-time sum in the last budget period from another coalition budget designated for food baskets, intended to temporarily expand the program.
Iluz noted the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs provides assistance to families living in poverty via the third sector, including monthly and holiday food baskets, daily meals, and more. She said NIS 46 million are allocated for this as part of the base budget, and following a special addition this year, the total reached about NIS 56 million. She added that at the end of 2025, the ministry received an additional NIS 65 million, used to expand programs providing comprehensive support to families in poverty, including the Noshmim programs for families in poverty and risk. “We grew from 170 municipalities operating these programs to 212 in 2026, and today about 30,000 families, including roughly 100,000 children, receive assistance through them,” Iluz told the committee.
Members of the National Food Security Council, which operates under the Ministry of Welfare, discussed the lack of budgets for ongoing activity. They noted that a framework they developed was distributed in May 2025, but none of its recommendations have been implemented. Prof. Roni Strier, former chair of the council, said, “According to a framework the council built, the state has the money and resources to solve poverty and food insecurity within five years, but it has not taken on the political will to do so. The strategy currently being used reproduces and deepens poverty over the years. Advancing the framework will cost money, but what we will get in return is enormous.”
Dr. Dorit Eldar, President of the Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition, emphasized the importance of making healthy, nutritious food accessible to the poor: “Food insecurity is not a decree of fate. It can be eradicated, and an accessible and sustainable food basket can be provided by imposing price supervision on healthy foods. Supervision and donations of unhealthy food may negatively affect poor people’s health and impose additional costs on the healthcare system.”
Rotem Yosef Giladi, CEO of the Nevet – Sandwich for Every Child non-profit organization, said, “It is important to expand school feeding programs not only with a hot lunch but also with breakfast, which is much cheaper. We operate a program that provides a full, nutritious breakfast to about 20,000 pupils every day, across all sectors, at an annual cost of less than NIS 800 per child.”
At the conclusion of the debate, Committee Chair MK Woldiger asked the Ministry of Welfare to provide ongoing updates to the committee regarding the establishment process of the National Authority to Combat Poverty, including the expected launch date and allocated budgets. “We hear about very large sums invested by the state and, alongside it – and even more so – civil society organizations investing billions of shekels and doing amazing and important work, and yet, unfortunately, poverty rates are not declining and its severity is even worsening. Therefore, the authority’s existence as a coordinating and professional body is needed today more than ever,” she said.
Some 2 million Israelis living in poverty, including about 880,000 children.
Labor and Welfare Committee discusses findings of 2024 Poverty Report.
