August 16, 2019 “Surely a wise and discerning people is this great nation”   V’eschanan 4:6

The “Start-up Nation” hasn’t quite trickled down to all Israelis. Half the Arab population and nearly half of the “Ultra-Orthodox” live below 50% of median income. 26% of single-parent households, 20% of elderly, and 20% of all families are impoverished, half of those representing the “working poor”, 10% of Jewish households in Israel, leaving Israel behind Mexico, Chile and Turkey. As Knesset Minister Itzak Schmuli (Zionist Union) said, “for 40 houses in Amona, the entire government gets on its feet, but for 2,000,000 poor people, nobody says a word.” In Israel, as in America, “jobs” is not the issue; opportunity is the issue. As is  terminating the political class’ obsession with preserving its own political dominance, with tax cuts for the powerful, and with corporate ascendency. Education, food security, and economic disparity are, surprisingly, urgent matters for too many Israelis left behind.