The survey illustrates and validates what was already known to aid organizations: over half of the respondents reported feeling financial distress “often”, a rate that is comparable to poverty when applying the official approach in Israel. The level of food insecurity among this population is disturbingly high: approximately 85% experience food insecurity, and 55% experience severe food insecurity. A substantial proportion of their monthly income is spent on housing, while many report poor health conditions due to limited access to health insurance coverage.

The reviewed findings highlight the state’s need to improve the situation of the refugee and asylum seeker population and, indirectly, to improve the situation of Israeli society as a whole. Among the policy proposals mentioned in this document, we note a proposal to implement a mechanism for regularly collecting data on this population to monitor their situation and its improvement according to the desired policy measures; action must be taken to alleviate the suffering of refugees in Israel by providing essential assistance, even if partial, in the areas of social security, housing, a basic package of welfare and health services, and more – until the desired realization of their official refugee status.

Our thanks to Dr. Yuval Livnat, Etty Konor-Attias and Dr. Yael Hasson from the Adva Center, and Tali Ehrenthal (MSW), Hadar Aviel, Zameret Hershco (MSW), Adv. Orly Levinson Sela and Mika Foux from ASSAF, for their helpful comments and support.

Special thanks to the team of the ‘Mesila’ – Aid and Information Centre for Migrant Workers and Refugees at the Tel Aviv–Yafo Municipality, for their partnership in the data collection for this research.

Translated to English by: Lea Dovrat

This publication was co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the Adva Center and ASSAF, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

This report was also made possible thanks to the support of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

הפוסט The Poor Who Don’t Count: Poverty, Food Security and Economic Well-being among Asylum Seekers in Israel הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

A recent Adva Center study revealed that close to a third (28.5%) of employed persons in the northern and southern districts earn low salaries, compared with less than a fifth (17.5%) of employed persons in the central area of the country.

Below are some of the budget cuts planned for 2025, all of which are expected to have a negative effect onlow wage workers:

1. Placing a freeze on negative income until 2027. (Retracted) 
2. Placing a freeze on child allowances until the end of 2025. These allowances, paid to mothers, reflect at least a minimal recognition of the cost of raising children. They constitute a significant source of income for households in the lower income deciles, and the failure to link them to rises in the cost of living will widen inequality.
3. Increasing the lower level of the national insurance (social security) tax . This tax hike will lower take-home pay, and will, of course, affect low-income workers more than others. Women constitute 65% of low earners and will thus bear the brunt of the tax hike.
4. Initiating across-the-board budget cuts in the public services – to the tune of some 6.5 billion shekels. These cuts will affect, among others, Israel’s education, healthcare and social welfare systems; they will be sorely felt not only by women living in poverty, who are almost entirely dependent on public services, but also on lower middle class households.

Dislocated Persons from the South and the North of Israel Will be Especially Affected by the Absence of Relevant Policy

A study recently published by the Adva Center showed that the continued dislocation of Israelis from their homes resulted in the desolation of communities; it also forced numerous households to move from place to place and resulted in employment as well as personal crises.

The extended residence of displaced individuals and families in hotels also extracted a heavy price. Parents reported a loss of authority, among others due to the lack of stable educational frameworks; adults and senior citizens coped with forced inactivity and in some cases isolation from their families. The longer the hotel stay, the more invidious its effects. When the time comes for displaced households to return to their homes, the experience of dislocation is liable to affect the capability of internal refugees to forgo dependence and return to normal life.   It should be noted that a possible result of a too-early cessation of financial assistance for housing, unemployment, and businesses for those adversely affected by displacement, may very well have implications for the economic resilience of households and whole communities and result in increased poverty in the North and South of Israel.

Poverty and Debt in Arab Society in Israel

Most Arabs in Israel live in separate rather than mixed Jewish-Arab localities, and many Arab localities are to be found in the North and South of Israel.

In recent years, against the background of the high cost of living and increased interest rates,  a debt crisis has developed among Arab households. These households are more likely than Jewish households to experience economic distress (In 2022, 39% of Arab families lived in poverty, compared with 16% of Jewish families). This situation has led to a type of double jeopardy:  as institutional credit is not readily accessible to Arab citizens, they are dependent on the gray market, which does offer loans, but at high interest rates and danger to life and livelihood if the loans are not repaid in time. This situation not only creates and exacerbates the debt crisis, but also buttresses organized crime, which takes full advantage of the economic distress in Arab society for its own gain.

A study conducted by the Adva Center found that in 2021, 7.9% of Jewish households were in debt, compared with 19.4% of Arab households. Despite this situation, Arabs were under-represented in insolvency rehabilitation programs, and the average time it took to return a loan for Arabs was fully 18 times longer than for Jews, despite the fact that Arabs’ loans were smaller.

Protecting the Poor in the Periphery: Policy Recommendations

Adva Center recommends initiation of a broad-based policy of economic rehabilitation and debt servicing assistance. In addition, we recommend the initiation of a multi-year strategy whose goal is to rehabilitate those who were uprooted from their homes in the North and South of Israel. In the short-run, we call on the government to adopt the following recommendations:

1. To cancel the proposed budget cuts proposed by the Ministry of Finance, as they will have harmful effects on low-income workers, and to consider in their stead raising tax rates for high earners and on profits on capital investments. In the middle and long run, the negative income tax for parents should be significantly increased.
2. To design non-profit programs to provide credit accessibility for low-income persons, on better terms than those currently available. This can be effected by utilizing the Postal Bank or by creating a fund on the basis of monies obtained following criminal proceedings against those who break the law mandating fair credit terms.
3. To continue to support individuals and families displaced by the October 2023 war, with existing or new allowances. This can be done, for example, by utilizing the mechanism of the Victims of Hostile Actions Law of 1970, via a temporary order.

הפוסט In the Absence of a Broad-based Economic Rehabilitation Policy, Poverty in Israel is Expected to Grow הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

After the coronavirus pandemic, food security in unrecognized villages worsened. Societal infrastructures had to reassess their capacity under large-scale emergency stress. In the unrecognized villages of the Negev, exploratory research conducted in the first year and published in September 2023 highlighted how the lack of infrastructure, particularly water and electricity, directly affects residents’ food security (in Hebrew). The war that began on October 7th, 2023, and the exploratory research findings prompted us to continue using qualitative methods for this study. The subsequent findings resulted from 21 semi-structured interviews conducted in seven villages deprived of recognition. Based on these findings, we recommend developing an emergency plan for situations when the movement of Bedouin people is restricted to their villages; otherwise, future emergencies could lead to starvation.

Chapter one examines the consequences of the October 2023 war on food security in unrecognized villages. First, a traditional food rationing system in these villages, used in times of crisis, tends to promote isolationism. Second, at the war’s onset, tourism-related jobs and employment along the Gaza border ceased, which were the primary sources of income for women in the villages. Third, the war drove up the cost of living, reducing the variety of products available, mainly fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat. The loss of income, rising cost of living, and increased socioeconomic isolation has severely impacted the regular food supply in households. These three effects of the ongoing war are expected to undermine food security and compound into worsening long-term health issues.

Chapter two addresses the measuring of food security in unrecognized villages. The interviewees noted that discussing food insecurity is considered shameful in Bedouin society. Shame complicates access to accurate quantitative measurements of Bedouin food insecurity. Additionally, the approach to identifying food insecurity differs from that of most people in Israel. Some interviewees described reliance on the land and living modestly as a healthy Bedouin tradition. For instance, in response to a standard food security questionnaire, “Did you skip a meal in the last two weeks?” the answers are likely to be negative, as olive oil in pita bread is regarded as a meal. Food security questionnaires must be tailored to local contexts, or else connotative discrepancies can lead to inaccurate results.

Chapter three examines the gendered division of labor concerning food security within the household. Traditionally, women leave their homes to move into a home within the men’s community. It is important to note that the Bedouin household is traditionally organized as a network instead of a nuclear unit. Dependents frequently experience flexibility within their family structure. As a result, the husband’s extended family dependents may live in the husband’s household. Gender-based power dynamics within the home are typically dictated by conservative patriarchal norms that enforce gender roles in the context of food security. Women are expected to perform domestic and reproductive labor, while men are expected to be the breadwinners. Both gendered labors attribute to food security in the household.

The conclusion emphasizes the need for comprehensive research and locally focused policy. Regarding research, conducting studies that resonate with the culture and challenges of daily life in each village is recommended instead of relying on standard food security questionnaires. Furthermore, it is essential to adapt measurements and responses to reflect the perceptions of Bedouin villagers and ensure that all questions are tailored with gender sensitivity. Regarding policy, protocols must be established to protect Bedouin villagers from starvation in emergencies and non-emergencies. A consistent and storable source of fresh food must be developed to promote self-sufficiency. During non-emergency periods, it is advisable to adopt a flexible definition of the household, ensuring it includes everyone who may share a meal. Lastly, we strongly advocate for integrating women into stable employment that aligns with their customs and raising awareness of food security in high schools as teenagers start taking active roles in their households.

הפוסט Food Insecurity in Bedouin Villages Deprived of Recognition in the Negev Region of Israel הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

“It is crucial that a plan be designed for emergency situations in which residents of the villages are unable to access foodstuffs outside of their villages. Such situations will result in real hunger, as it appears to have occurred among some families during the Covid-19 epidemic.” (published in Hebrew, here)

Indeed, when the present war with Hamas broke out, civil society organizations working in the Negev warned that residents of the unrecognized villages were on the brink of hunger. Even during normal times, they cope with food insecurity, along with lack of infrastructure, access roads and regular provision of water and electricity. Food insecurity in the villages stems from, among others, the need to go elsewhere in order to obtain the necessities of life. Thus, in times of emergency, when it is impossible to go outside the villages, the danger of hunger is imminent.

Civil society organizations have tried to make up for the inaccessibility of necessities – collecting and delivering foodstuffs to a distribution point in the village of Hura, but their volunteers contend that distress is rampant, and civil society initiatives will not be able to supply the enormous needs for long. They are calling on the state to act to prevent hunger both immediately and in the long run.

Like other residents of the Negev, Bedouin residents suffered terrible losses following the Hamas attacks. At least 19 Bedouin citizens of Israel were murdered on the bloody day of October 7, 2023, among them a grandmother and her granddaughter from a missile that hit the village of Kochla. Others were murdered when they tried to save persons injured by missiles, and still others as they laboured in the fields of the Israeli townships around the Gaza Strip. In addition, six Bedouin citizens of Israel are among the kidnapped and missing, four of them from the same family – a father and sons who accompanied him to his job at the Holit Kibbutz. The body of another person who went missing – Amar Odah Abu Svila – a young man 25 years old — was murdered when he rescued two Jewish toddlers from Hamas bullets while they were in a family vehicle near the police station in the city of Sderot.

Neglect of residents of the unrecognized villages is outrageous. On October 7, 2023 – the day of the Hamas attacks, those villages did not have rapid-response squads, safe rooms or bomb shelters. The Iron Dome protective system defines the area in which the villages are located as “open areas” rather than “populated areas”, and thus missiles fired in their direction were not intercepted. In addition, in the absence of electrical infrastructure, air raid sirens were not regularly sounded. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel asked the relevant ministers and the Home Front Command to bring prefabricated bomb shelters and to set up alarm systems in the villages. On October 18, 2023, the Ministry for Social Equality announced that together with the Home Front Command, it would act to “close the protection gaps in the Negev Bedouin diaspora.”

The security threat prevents Bedouin citizens residing in the Negev from purchasing necessities, thus creating a threat of food insecurity and even hunger, which is liable to exacerbate if the present war continues. As if this were not bad enough, many of these citizens also lost their sources of income, making it difficult to purchase foodstuffs even if they were able to move freely and go to nearby towns with grocery stores.

הפוסט Lessons of the Covid-19 Epidemic Forgotten: Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev Face Hunger הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

The nature of socio-economic data is that they become known with the passage of time – some after a few months and others after a year or two or more. In the meantime, the latest socioeconomic data for Israel published by state institutions – the Bank of Israel, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and the National Insurance Institute (NII) – are, at best, for 2021, while some are for 2020 and others for 2019.

And during those years, we were subject to another worldwide crisis with socio-economic implications – the Corona epidemic. That epidemic, which has yet to run its course, though it was shunted to the margins of the news by the sights and sounds of the Russian war against the Ukraine, caused the death of millions, the closure of numerous businesses, unemployment rates unknown since the 1929 crash, as well as huge government outlays for aid to individuals and businesses and, of course, on health.

At the same time there were individuals who not only were not adversely affected during the Corona crisis, but actually profited.

This was the case of the ten richest persons in the world, whose combined worth prior to the epidemic stood at 700 billion dollars, a sum that had doubled by 2022 to 1.5 trillion dollars.

Israel’s wealthy partake of the same phenomenon: according to the financial newspaper “The Marker,” the wealth of the 500 richest persons in Israel quadrupled over the last four years and grew by 32% between 2020 and 2021.

The figures presented below reflect the first chapters of the story of the epidemic, which is also a story of the widening of inequality in Israel and elsewhere. This, in hope that the war currently raging in eastern Europe ends quickly and will not become the main story of Israel: A Social Report next year.

הפוסט Israel – A Social Report 2022: The Inequality Epidemic Still Rages הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

Background: Bilal is 16 years old. He lives in a small “unrecognized” [1]village built on land in the possession of his extended family, near one of the “recognized” Bedouin settlements. He is the second among eight children. His father works as a mechanic in a garage in Beer Sheba, and his mother is a housewife. His big brother works with his dad at the garage.

Bilal is in the tenth grade in a high school located in the recognized village nearest his home. He is the first in his extended family to study in high school, and as such, he serves as a model for his younger siblings. Bilal gets to school in a school bus that picks up young people from several other villages and brings them to high schools in recognized villages – the only ones that have high schools. The bus picks him up at a spot some ten minutes from his home. Often the bus comes early and Bilal misses it; then he needs to walk to school, which is about three quarters of an hour away. On rainy days he needs to cross a dry river bed that has filled with water. Usually he is picked up early and arrives at school at seven in the morning instead of at eight, when school begins. On the way back home, the bus collects Bilal not when school ends but later, at three o’clock in the afternoon. If the weather is good, Bilal prefers to walk home rather than wait for the bus and take the long, circuitous ride that will eventually bring him home.

Bilal was a very good student, highly motivated to do well in school. This is not something to be taken for granted, for the obstacles to learning were numerous. With seven siblings at home, he had a hard time finding a quiet corner where he could do his homework. Bilal’s efforts to excel and to complete all of his assignments often led to fights between him and his brothers and sisters.

Bilal’s ambition was to continue his studies after completing high school in order to become a dentist, a profession he thought would enable him to make a good living and get ahead in life – and also to be helpful to family members, many of whom were suffering from dental problems.

Bilal’s teachers, most of them Bedouins, love their charges and do their best to help them get ahead.

What happened to Bilal during the Corona epidemic?

During the Corona epidemic, Bedouin schools in the Negev, like other schools in Israel, were closed most of the time. At first, Bilal enjoyed being away from school and spent long hours playing soccer and other games with his cousins. However, after about a month he began to feel he was losing something – schoolwork that would enable him to get ahead.

In the meantime, the teachers organized to continue teaching via Zoom. Many of the students from the recognized town in which the high school was located had computers at home (but not necessarily a computer for each child) and were connected to the internet. However, in the “unrecognized” villages students did not have computers and there was no infrastructure to connect to the internet. Like other students in the “unrecognized villages,” Bilal did not own a computer. He did have a smart phone, and some of the teachers tried to give lessons via the phone for students from “unrecognized” villages. However, this did not work very well: there were frequent lapses in reception, during which the students missed the teachers’ explanations, and when reception resumed, they could not ask questions because the teachers were already onto other subjects. The situation was especially problematic in math and English, both vital to success in the matriculation exams and to admission to colleges and universities. Discouraged, Bilal called one of his teachers on the telephone and asked how he could possibly learn anything under such conditions.

After a while, Bilal despaired of learning anything. Like other young men in his situation, he looked for – and found – low-wage work. His father allowed him to keep some of the money he earned. The fact that within a short time Bilal had money in his pocket lowered his motivation to learn even more. He felt older and manlier, having discovered that he could earn money on his own.

What happened after the third lockdown?

Bilal’s school reopened in March 2021 and he went back to school. However, within a short time, nearly half the class, including Bilal, contracted the Corona virus. The young people did not suffer much; Bilal was weak with a fever for a few days, but most of his extended family was infected and some of the adults became seriously ill. His grandfather was hospitalized for a month, and when he returned, he was not as hale and healthy as he had been before.

After reopening, Bilal’s school closed three more times due to Corona infections among the students. Long-distance learning resumed, and once again Bilal found himself getting behind in his studies. This time he was not nearly so upset, thinking that perhaps he really didn’t need school, now that he could earn money without it. His father asked him to forget about working and to continue his studies, in order to increase his chances of making a good living. Bilal, being young, thought differently.

What about the future? For the time being, it appears that the Corona epidemic has put an end to Bilal’s plans to excel in school, to get into a university and to study dentistry. Perhaps things will change with time and he will see the light and manage to catch up – and perhaps not.

[1] “Recognized” villages are those endowed with official status by the Israeli government; they include the city of Rahat, 6 towns, and 2 regional councils that encompass 12 small villages. The rest of the Bedouin settlements in the Negev, containing some 80,000 residents, have no official status and are thus termed “unrecognized” villages.

הפוסט The Social Implications of The Corona Crisis: Bilal, A Bedouin High School Student Living in the Negev הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

Poor and near-poor households, constituting a quarter of Israeli households, bear the brunt of the economic shutdown along with many others who are currently falling into poverty. The latter include recipients of social security old age or disability allowances, persons living in public housing and subsidized rentals, young adults and others employed in temporary jobs with no work continuity or pay slips. Examples also include “gig employees” and precarious workers such as couriers, hourly workers, waiters and others who do not qualify for unemployment compensation.

In the midst of the socio-economic crisis caused by the corona virus and the shutdown, the aid package does not offer the necessary increase in social service budgets. Many social workers and other welfare professionals were sent home on unpaid leave, and the system suffers from a shortage of personnel.

The Education Ministry boasts about the long-distance learning programs that are available for one million students. Yet nothing was done for about 1.4 million other students who have no access to a computer or a cell-phone package in their homes, and they have had to stop learning. Even before the virus, the educational gaps between the haves and have-nots were wide; the long-distance learning program will expand them.

There is no guarantee that people living in public housing and subsidized rentals will be able to extend their leases. And Israel is yet to follow the example of the UK and temporarily prohibit ousting renters, or putting a provisional stop to all debt collecting processes, a step taken in other countries.

That said, credit is due to the CEO of the National Insurance Institute who called for the issuance of a temporary order that would allow a person to receive a double allowance (which in normal times is impossible), thus protecting, among others, single parents sent home on leave without pay, who would otherwise lose part of their child-support payments. The CEO also noted the need to raise income maintenance allowances, which are very low, or to give beneficiaries a lump sum payment to tide them over the corona crisis. The current public discourse is about compensation to employees, self-employed persons and businesses, but it ignores the question of the suitability of the social welfare apparatus to present- day needs.

Many countries have taken an expansionist position in line with OECD recommendations: income support or one-time awards to persons not eligible for unemployment compensation, compensation for reduction to part-time work, suspension of the qualification period for unemployment compensation, paid leave for parents and particularly for mothers unable to work because of the shutdown of the education system.

Compared to the majority of developed countries, the rate of poverty and extent of inequality in Israel were high even before the COVID-19 crisis. In the absence of a suitable response, we might find ourselves on the “day after” with a smaller number of unemployed persons but with many more poor and deeper poverty.

Published in Hebrew in the economic newspaper, Globes, April 6, 2020

הפוסט Persons at the Margins of the Economy Fall Outside of the Israeli Government’s Corona Aid Package הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.

Those who purchase haute couture versus those who shop at H&M. Not in times of corona, the virus that now threatens what we hold most dear – our lives; the virus that threatens the economy, capitalism, western as well as eastern civilizations. This disease makes all disparities obsolete.

Corona is a cheap illness. It doesn’t require expensive medicine. There isn’t any designated medicine for it, anyway. One does not need to consider going abroad for complex medical procedures. Corona is so inexpensive that one might think it erases all differences, all gaps. No east or west, no north or south, no up or down.

All you need are three simple things: quarantine, 6 feet of social distancing and frequent hand washing. So simple, so mundane, so egalitarian.

Quarantine? Big deal, easy… who can’t self-isolate?

Turns out many people cannot. You need a house to isolate yourself in. Some 150 million persons around the world do not have a home:  2% of the world’s population lack a decent shelter to call a home.

We are not only talking about India. In the Gaza Strip, one-hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, some 13,000 persons have no roof over their heads, thanks to the Hamas and the IDF. They do, however, have a highly effective collective isolation imposed by the IDF. And the Bedouins in “unrecognized villages” in the Negev are prevented from building real houses.

Six feet of social distancing? That’s nothing. Any two people can stay 6 feet apart.

Unfortunately, the fact is that millions of refugees around the world who live in tents or other makeshift homes cannot. We are talking about 71 million people worldwide. And in our neck of the woods: millions of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Refugees trying to enter Europe through the Greek islands many of us used to vacation in. Haredi Jews, many of whom are poor, living in jam-packed quarters.

Hand washing? Funny. Who cannot do that several times a day?

Those who have no access to running water. Some 780 million people around the world have no access to safe drinking water. Some 2.5 billion people have no indoor sanitation system.

An hour’s drive from Tel Aviv, in the Gaza Strip, there is very limited access to drinking water.  In 2014, less than 11% of Gazans were connected to the public system for drinking water, compared with 97% of the population in the West Bank.

A “social” disease? Society needs to be healed first.

הפוסט Equality in Times of Corona הופיע לראשונה ב-Adva Center.