FOOD INSECURITY AFFECTS HALF A MILLION ISRAELI FAMILIES- REPORT

Mon 06 March 2023:

A recent report revealed that more than one million Israelis, including some 665,000 children, are living in food insecurity, amid serious concerns by a group of hundreds of Israeli economists that a financial meltdown could occur more “powerfully and faster” than they had originally forecast.

According to Channel 14, the figure translates to more than 530,000 families and highlights that over 976,000 adults are suffering from food insecurity as well.

The findings were announced during a recent Labor, Welfare and Health Committee of the Knesset (Israeli parliament), where Knesset member Israel Eichler called for quicker distribution of food baskets among needy families throughout the occupied territories.

He added that Israeli institutions should pay for at least half of the cost of the basic household food baskets.

Earlier this year, a report on the food security situation in Israel issued by the so-called National Insurance Institute of Israel showed that 522,000 Israeli families live in a state of food insecurity, including 265,000 families living in a state of severe food insecurity.

The report noted that the survey included in the report was conducted in the first half of the year 2021, and before the cessation of unemployment benefits that were granted to most of the unemployed individuals and workers who were put on unpaid leave due to the global pandemic in 2020.

It stated that “the data indicate that in 2021, the year in which corona health and economic crisis that began in March 2020 continued, the level of food security of the population increased”.

The report showed that the level of food security in Arab society increased from 56.8 percent in 2016 to 57.6 percent in 2021, which means that 42.4 percent of Arab families are experiencing food insecurity. This is three times higher than the general rate. In contrast, approximately 11 percent of Jews live in food insecurity.

Recent weeks have seen the Israeli shekel value drop to a three-year low against the dollar, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange underperform and leading companies pulling their money from Israeli accounts.

On Saturday night, tens of thousands of protesters took part in demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities for the ninth straight week to reject a plan to overhaul Israel’s court system.

The legislation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing and extremist allies hope to pass would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving legislators decisive powers in appointing judges.

On March 1, American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc. warned that the planned judicial changes could have a “negative impact” on Israel’s credit profile.

Fitch cautioned that the judicial overhaul could weaken institutional checks, leading to “worse policy outcomes or sustained negative investor sentiment”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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