Israel Sinks into Poverty. Where is the Jewish State? Who is the Israeli ‘Milei’?

The war has undoubtedly exacerbated the existing social situation, aka poverty, in Israel. However, the situation for the poor in Israel was catastrophic even before the war. Just to blame the war is very dishonest. No political party or relevant forces, such as for example the trade unions, care about the social situation in Israel.

Poverty is also hardly a topic for the media in Israel. Those with jobs and security live in a bubble primarily served by politics, business, NGOs and the media. You can quickly get the impression that everything is fine and awesome in Israel.

But appearances are deceptive. You see the many dilapidated houses, and scrap cars on the road and a closer look at the clothing reveals a lot. Yes, poverty is visible on a large scale. You think, well, personal impressions. They can be deceptive.

But the annual reports of Israel’s largest social welfare organization, LATET, paint a picture that gets bleaker every year.

What are the reasons?

As mentioned, the war has worsened the poverty situation this year. But even before the war, the poverty rate was at a record level. We are facing a decades-old systemic failure. The high prices are caused by Israel’s oligopolistic market structures, where around 20 families dominate the market in Israel.

These structures drive prices to astronomical heights with inferior product quality. Customer service is an unknown word in Israel. Israel has neither a free market economy nor competition. Fact. Israel’s consumers have to live with defective goods at high prices. Even European market products. As soon they are produced in license in Israel you are confronted with poor quality. The legal structures protect these monopoly structures.

One reason why the economic elites are so keen to prevent judicial reform. It could endanger their monopoly profits. Additionally, I never noticed that the system of the ombudsman tried to enforce more social justice. They are more keen to prosecute right-wing politicians and to block their political projects.

The bureaucracy and its around 70 state-owned companies, almost all of them generate profits, make life difficult and even more expensive. Bureaucracy costs a lot of money, which has to be collected through taxes. The bureaucracy costs a lot of time and is a pain in Israel. Finally, a non-transparent labour market and a housing market with skyrocketing prices.

This makes Israel a rather socialist and very expensive society in the service of the ‘friends-bring-friends networks’ and the elites of the states. The bill is paid by the poor people in Israel. They simply fall through the grate. The elites and their networks secured for them a lot of privileges and selective access.

Now to the facts

Some Lowlights

22% cannot pay the electricity bills

21% of the families in Israel live in food insecurity

70% of the poor cannot afford the prescribed medicines to buy

84.8%of aid recipients are in a state of energy scarcity

57.9% of elderly assistance recipients have debt, of which 26.2% owe more than 50,000 NIS

The facts are devasting. I wonder why no political party make this social atrocity its major concern. Instead the unelected elites of the deep state love to fight PM Netanyahu about his consumption of some undeclared cigars which he got as a gift from friends. Unbelievable.

Secular elites in Israel are enriching themselves at the expense of the majority through unfair conditions and privileges. This injustice must be stopped. It does not correspond to Jewish values ​​and is an insult to Judaism, whose banner is the elimination of poverty and helping those in need.

In this recent study, the authors wrote finally: “The economic measures planned for the 2025 budget – raising the VAT, increasing National Insurance contributions, freezing tax brackets, and child allowances – burden everyone but are expected to deepen the hardship, particularly among weaker populations.” So the regulations and bureaucracies are the problem. They make people and countries poor.

Israel is in dire need of a ‘Milei’. Who will be the ‘Milei’ of Israel cutting down the privileges of the elites and friends-bring-friends networks?