Lawmakers vote on Monday evening 39-0 to approve the third and final reading of a law mandating the establishment of a National Authority to Combat Poverty. Sponsored by lawmakers belonging to Hadash, the Labor party and ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the law calls for the foundation of an agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs tasked with coordinating government-wide efforts in reducing poverty over the long term — including by preventing families on the verge from falling into poverty in the first place.

MK Aida Touma-Sliman and Mohammed Barakeh, chairman of the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel and former Hadash MK, during a rally against crime held in Haifa, June 2023 (Photo: Zo Haderekh)

It is proposed to establish a National Authority for Eradication of Poverty in the Ministry of Welfare, which will work to reduce poverty, prevent its spread and extricate people from a state of poverty. The roles of the authority will include preparation of a national multi-annual plan and annual plans for combating and preventing poverty and supervision of their implementation; presenting an opinion to the House Committee on the impact of legislation on the struggle against poverty; setting up and managing a national research and information center in the field of poverty; coordination between government ministries and local authorities; advising the government and providing help to the government and the local authorities; and providing assistance for distribution of food to those in need. The new authority will also be empowered to assist families under the poverty line which have not yet received help through traditional welfare channels.

“While the far-right government is cutting welfare budgets and deepening disparities by funding a destructive war, we have succeeded in passing a law that rightly stands on the side of the poor and the disadvantaged – not as those in need of mercy, but as those with the right to live with dignity,” Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman states.

“There were attempts to crush the law and eliminate essential mechanisms – but I stood my ground. We succeeded in preserving the independence of the National Council for Food Security and passed a law that obligates the state to take responsibility. Poverty is not a fate – it is the result of policy, and now it will have a planned, binding, and national response,” Touma-Sliman said.

Professor Roni Strier, Chair of Israel’s National Council for Food Security, says, welcomed the new law and said “We know that children with food insecurity are affected cognitively, health-wise, and socially. Food insecurity affects children’s scholastic achievements. It is essential for Israel’s national resilience and its future that children do not suffer from food insecurity.” 

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32547