The publication deals with a number of issues affecting Israel’s social welfare system, the type of ideology and praxis guiding the social welfare services, and the need for a new vision for the social welfare system in Israel.

Israel’s chances of reaching the higher echelons of OECD social and economic scales will grow dimmer and dimmer year by year, as the hostilities continue and the military budget maintains its first-priority status.

The “Iron Swords” war, which began on October 7, 2023, has had far-reaching effects on Arab women in Israel. The damage wrought has wider social and economic implications that affect the strength of the family and the community, as well as Arab society in Israel and Israeli society as a whole.

The evacuation of residents from the border areas of the Gazan Strip and the North of Israel since October 7, 2023, has created “a new spatial order.” Like Origami, Israel has become a country with a different social and spatial texture than that prior to the “folding.” The refiguring that occurred has far-reaching implications on the lives of persons evacuated as well as on the absorbing municipality and its inhabitants.

Budget cuts in the Employment Program for Arab women and men will result in perpetuating the gaps between Jews and Arabs; they also augur damage to the Israeli economy, especially in light of the reduction in the employment of Arabs since the outbreak of war.

While the Knesset prepares to pass the national budget for 2024, the question of a rising defense budget and dwindling funds for social services are at the top of the agenda.

The 15% budget cut in the 5-year plan is liable to negate the progress made to date and to increase the level of violence in Arab society.This is a decisive moment in Israel’s responsibility for Palestinian society – and for Israel as a whole.

Israel’s national budget for 2024 indicates a “day after” with more warfare, less welfare and less equity.

Israel’s healthcare system will continue to exist as a mixed public-private model. The balance between the two – the public and the private — is of critical importance, if we aspire to equality in access to healthcare.

The policy of ‘Arming Israel,’ as it is currently being conducted, will deepen the vulnerability of women in general and women who are caught in the cycle of domestic violence in particular