A week before Passover, the State Comptroller is publishing a scathing and deadly report today (Monday) on the government's food security program, which was supposed to provide solutions for the country's citizens in financial distress.
The report shows that the Israeli government has neglected its commitment to addressing the issue that affects approximately one million people - 360,000 of whom are children. In addition, it is alleged that no comprehensive government policy has been formulated and no appropriate resources have been allocated to deal with the phenomenon.
Last January, four people stood on one stage Yesh Atid ministers announce in the bathtub: "230 million shekels allocated for the food security program"'.
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Well, since then, according to the findings of the State Comptroller, retired Judge Yosef Shapira - not a single shekel has been transferred. "Poverty is not a fate. A society that does not care for the poor and the underprivileged living in its midst not only harms their dignity and rights, but also harms its own image," the Comptroller wrote.
From February to August 2013, the State Comptroller's Office examined government actions to promote nutritional security: the ability to regularly consume food that includes all the nutritional components required for proper development and human health. The examination was conducted primarily at the Ministry of Social Affairs, but also included inquiries at other government ministries and local governments.
The lack of information is great: The Ministry of Social Affairs does not have a database of information about families or individuals who suffer from food insecurity, but according to a survey by National Insurance Institute From 2012, it appears that 18.31% of families in Israel (about 330,000) suffer from food insecurity, and 10.51% suffer from severe food insecurity.
Nearly 900,000 citizens reported that due to lack of money, they sometimes went without eating for an entire day or reduced the size of their meals for several months a year.
The findings of the auditor's report also indicate that by the end of the audit period, the government had not established a policy to address the issue of food security, with various plans being written, adopted, and "buried" in a drawer.
One-time symbolic assistance
Another absurd situation is the state's reliance on Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein's "Friendship Fund" as a major budgetary source for assistance in cases of food insecurity for local welfare offices. This situation is problematic, as the allocation of funds is made according to the fund's policy and subject to its guidelines.
According to the State Comptroller's Office, this funding and the allocation of funds according to the fund's policy are not sufficient to ensure the systematic treatment required for the issue, and there is reason to consider determining that the allocation of resources to local authorities to promote this issue will be done primarily by the central government.
According to the Comptroller, the government's activity to ensure food security for its citizens amounts to supporting food associations as a tool for promoting the issue. The Comptroller's examination shows that the bulk of this support is intended for food baskets for Passover - symbolic assistance at a one-time date. In addition, the food associations determine which places they will provide food assistance, and support for a needy population living in a particular place is provided not according to the criterion of the level of food insecurity, but according to the ability of the population living in the place to organize themselves to establish an association that will meet the support tests or according to the desire of the food associations to assist that population.
The Israeli government lives in a virtual world
Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog said: "The Comptroller's report points to the intolerable gap between words and deeds in the current government." According to him, "The Minister of Finance twice announced the establishment of a food security fund: in June 2013, from the Knesset stage, and in January 2014, at a festive press conference. There is talk, there are promises, there are reasoned explanations - but there is no money. It is Passover Eve, and hundreds of thousands of needy Lapid people are facing a broken trough with no solution.".
Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri: "The cry of 360,000 children who, as a result of the government's abuse, remain hungry for a loaf of bread is the real reason why this evil government must go to the polls. A government that abandons its citizens and its children has no right to exist. I call on all members of the coalition who have a little compassion left in their hearts to give up their seats and leave the government of starvation.".
MK Eli Yishai said about the comptroller's report: "The State Comptroller's report reveals what we are crying out for - the Israeli government lives in a virtual world. It is not the problem of VAT on apartments or the salary of senior executives in the economy that are the problems that the citizens of Israel, and in particular its poor, are facing. These are the problems they dream about and bread in the morning, soup at noon, and cheese in the evening are what they pray for. The Israeli government is failing miserably in its treatment of the needy, but excelling excessively on Facebook.".
MK Yaakov Asher in response to the auditor's report on the serious poverty data: "In any reformed country, after such a serious report, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance must resign from their positions. There hasn't been such a bad and heartless government for many, many years. Lieberman is right, we need elections.".
Itzik Alrov, one of the leaders of the struggle against the cost of living and founder of the 'Consumers' movement, said: "As expected, introducing sweet cream under supervision did nothing to increase the nutritional security of Israeli citizens. It is time for the Israeli government to stop practicing cheap populism and start seriously addressing the problem of the cost of living.".
""For years, food corporations have been operating systematically and consistently. With one hand, they raise prices, while with the other hand, with complete cynicism and to silence consciences, they participate in festivals to help the poor. Poor people created by their own hands and conduct.".
