Protest at Knesset Says 2017-18 Budget Fails to Address Poverty

The Mossawa Center and other allies of the Arab community in Israel demonstrated in front of the Knesset Thursday morning to call on the government to fulfill its responsibilities in the fight against poverty. The demonstration highlighted how the current debate around the 2017-18 state budget represents an opportunity for the state to end the cycle of poverty in Israeli society. Twenty percent of Israeli citizens and over 30 percent of Israeli children live in poverty. Over half of Arab families subsist below the poverty line, suffering from high rates of unemployment, poor health care and a housing crisis.

The protesters focused their demands around public housing, social worker caseloads, welfare, child care and health services for marginalized communities.

They called for the state to mandate that at least 5 percent of all new construction be set aside as public housing. This would create between one and three thousand new flats per year. While around 46 thousand new apartments were built in the past year, only about 600 were set aside as public housing (0.01% of total construction).

Demonstrators also called for new limits on the caseloads of social workers. Social Worker Safra Dweck, Chairman of the Association of Social Workers, said, "Many social workers are under terrible strain. Restricting the size of their caseloads would allow them to be more effective in interventions and in providing professional assistance to the disadvantaged populations most in need of assistance.”

In terms of childcare for marginalized communities, the demonstrators called for the establishment of 210 new daycares, the majority in localities struggling with poverty. As for health care issues, the protest focused on the need for further state assistance in reducing the cost of healthcare and medicine for recipients of welfare.

The demonstration was sponsored by the following organizations: