\r\n\tIsraeli Government cuts in child benefits have pushed tens of thousands of Israeli children beneath the poverty line, according to an annual report published on December 23, and one in five of the Israeli elderlies cannot sufficiently support themselves.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tAccording to the report by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a rights watchdog, only three OECD member states have lower child-benefits rates than Israel.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tWhen discussing elderlies, the report concluded that a number of reforms that would benefit the elderly — such as a free dental care program — had been terminated following the elections in January.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tAn average of 1,000 families were disconnected from the water supply each month as well, the report said.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tThe study’s authors pointed to discrimination in the private sector as well, citing numerous polls that suggested Israeli business owners continuously disfavored Palestinians, women, mothers, army's reserve soldiers, members of the ultra-Orthodox community, and people of Oriental background.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tHalf of Israeli kids on welfare go hungry<\/strong> \r\n\tHalf of all welfare recipients and 29% of the general public in occupied Palestine reported that their financial situation had deteriorated over the past year. Of families receiving assistance, 47% had their bank accounts frozen due to unpaid debts, 54% had their electricity or water supply cut off, 39% reported being faced with lawsuits over their debts, and 41% had proceedings instituted against them by the bailiff’s office for non-payment of debts.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tNo less than 14% of families eligible for assistance said they were forced to beg for money over the past year, while 22% of welfare recipients reported having contemplated suicide more than once during the year because of their economic predicament.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tNot only welfare recipients have a problem: 52% of the general public said they were forced to buy less food this year due to worsening economic circumstances, 15% reported having begun moonlighting or changing jobs to increase their income, and 14% took out bank loans to make ends meet.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tThe public estimates that a family of four requires a monthly income of 11,938 shekels on average to get by, while the average income among families receiving welfare assistance is just 4,216 a month.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tAccording to the report, 9% of children under 18 in families receiving welfare assistance had to steal food in order to eat, and 12% were reduced to gathering food lying around or in garbage bins. The nutrition of half the children was based mainly on carbohydrates, with 37% nourished primarily by bread covered with a spread, and 16% of parents saying their children frequently go without food for a full day at a time. Only 37% of children in welfare-recipient families receive a daily meal through a school nutrition program.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tIsrael also ignoring needs of blind students<\/strong> \r\n\tGroups fighting for the rights of the children accuse the ministry of shirking its duty to deal with the situation.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tThey petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice more than two years ago about the lack of study materials for the blind and visually impaired.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tThe petitioners, Bizchut and Ofek Liyladenu, asked the High Court to order the ministry to provide textbooks, teaching materials and matriculation exams appropriate for blind and visually impaired students.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tBlind students need books in Braille or audio form, while visually impaired students need audio tapes or enlarged print.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tBooks and texts can often easily be made accessible by converting digital files to Braille or using assistive computer technology that reads text aloud, the petitioners say.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tCurrently, there are no textbooks or materials in an accessible format on any subject.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tSo far, parents have been buying the appropriate books with the help of nonprofit organizations, such as the Central Library for the Blind, the petitioners say.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\tThe best way to make books accessible is with the help of digital copies of textbooks, the petitioners say<\/p>","content_source":null,"content_url":null,"content_columns":"0","content_date_start":"2013-12-23 17:20:00","content_date_finish":"2013-12-23 17:20:00","content_date_register":"2013-12-23 17:20:00","content_date_last_edit":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","content_show_img":"1","content_show_details":"1","content_show_related_img":"1","content_show_slider":"1","content_show_title_slider":"1","content_comment":"0","content_score":"0","content_recorded":"0","content_confirmed":"1","content_status":"1","content_kind":"0","old_id":"121419","tag_id":null,"tag_word":null,"tag_service":null,"tag_total":null,"tag_soundex":null,"attach_token":"3105412014","attach_date_register":"2013-12-23 17:20:09","attach_id":"116160","attach_file_ext":"jpg","attach_file_header":"image\/jpeg","attach_img_type":"2","attach_img_width":"320","attach_img_height":"120","attach_file_media":"1","attach_show_watermark":"0","score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"visit_count":"177","visit_date_last":"2025-05-10 17:36:52","attach_title":"Poverty gripping Israel after 60 yrs","node_title":"Commentaries","ot_node_left_right":"[{\"node_id\":134, \"left\":25, \"right\":26}]"}]]
\r\n\tAlso food insecurity is a growing phenomenon is Israel, with half the 360,000 families receiving welfare assistance reporting that their children had gone a full day without food, according to the annual report on poverty from the Latet charitable organization.<\/p>\r\n
\r\n\tThe regime's Education Ministry has also reportedly refused to provide textbooks and other study materials for more than 1,000 blind and visually impaired children in the mainstream schools, activist groups say.<\/p>\r\n