The Special Committee for the Rights of the Child convened on Tuesday, December 30, for a debate on food insecurity among children. According to a report on food security for 2024 prepared by the National Insurance Institute, about 968,000 households, comprising about 2.8 million people, including about one million children (31.7%), live in a state of food insecurity. Along with this index, economic accessibility to healthy food was also examined. In 2024, 27% of households lacked access to healthy food—these are about 963,000 households, comprising about 2.6 million people, including approximately 926,000 children.

MK Aida Touma-Sliman (first from left) during the debate on food insecurity among children in Israel, Tuesday, December 30, 2025 (Photo: Knesset)

The acting committee chair, MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash), who initiated the debate, said, “The statistics in the report are shocking, and I am certain that the findings that will be presented on 2025 will shock us even more. Food stamps have become a political tool in this country, and the time has come to monitor this distribution. Such a severe problem of food insecurity, which has both social and health ramifications, does not receive the proper attention.” According to Nitsa Kasir (Kaliner), Deputy Director General for Research and Planning at the National Insurance Institute: “The larger the family is, the higher the rate of food insecurity. Sixty percent of children in the Arab sector live in a state of food insecurity.”

Ministry of Health official Naomi Fliss Isakov‏ presented the health problem, saying, “As soon as a child lives in such a situation, we can see the health damage that can develop later in their lifetime. There is a plan using well-baby clinics (Tipat Halav), but beyond this, the Ministry of Health does not play an active role in this issue.”

Maria Rabinovitz of the Knesset Research and Information Center presented data showing that not all pupils who are eligible for a meal receive it. According to the paper presented by Rabinovitz, in the 2023/24 school year, only about 58% of eligible schoolchildren received a hot meal. Rotem Yosef Giladi, executive director of the Nevet NGO, agreed: “We think that the best meal programs for children are at schools. Starting from 7th grade there are no meals offered, and we have discovered that hunger is the number one cause of dropout from schools.” Shahar Mandil of ASSAF – Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel said, “Among the population of refugees and asylum seekers, statistics show that 80% live in a state of food insecurity.”
MK Touma- Sliman, said in summation, “This situation cannot continue, that no institution compiles all the data related to poverty and food insecurity. Data is necessary, so that they can cross-check their information. This shouldn’t be related to one political affiliation or another. We will hold a follow-up debate on this issue in a month’s time.”

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32578