As the pattern of poverty grows and the gap between the haves and have not’s becomes harder to close, news from Israel has it that some 1.65 million are now living under the poverty line and like Australia it has chosen to ignore the facts. This fresh raw data from the National Insurance Institute (NII) was released from a report which is now being argued over as parties try to put the best spin on the figures.

Presenting the report welfare minister Isaac Herzog and the director-general of the NII Yigal Ben-Shalom came out claiming that the situation in Israel had stabilised. Showing only a slight decrease in poverty rates for the past year the report states that the percentage of families living under the poverty line has dropped from 20.6% (2005) to 20% and overall the total percentages for Israelis had dropped from 24.7% to 24.5 per cent.

The harsh reality of these figures however show that a total of 404,000 families, 1.65 million citizens and 766,000 children live in poverty. As reported these figures could however be larger except for the outside influence from stipends which have increased to the elderly. While impoverishment for this group fell from 24.4% to 21.5%, the percentage of children living under the poverty line grew from 35.2% (2005) to 35.8 per cent.

According to the raw data from the NII, the actual income the poor receive has dropped, despite the growth of the Israeli economy. The poverty gap index which measures the severity of poverty or how many have drifted from the poverty line shows an increase from 33.1% to 33.8%; these figures have to be considered against the 1999 report which put the percentage then at 25.8%, an increase of mammoth proportions while the top tenth of Israeli society has more than doubled its income.

General Secretary of the Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) Movement, Mohammed Barakeh who is one of the Knesset's few Israeli Arab members in Israel's parliament has warned that these figures do not represent the true picture since many thousands of citizens were pushed above the poverty line by receiving just a few more sheckles. The most damaging aspect of this report he said was that the government has ignored the most drastic poverty in the Arab sector, where over 50% of the population and 60% of the children live below the poverty line.

These figures in line with many other governments’ reports and census show that the only stabilised picture is the one where they have looked after their voting base through increasing the divided to the rich in their respective countries. The facts capture an image of the politicised Israel in which turmoil is guaranteed; poverty a precursor to violence will put in jeopardy peace, as myths, distortions and lies serves the manipulator reinvigorating a hate filled backlash against those who are oppressed.

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