Plans For Reversal
For Israelis In Poverty

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Tel Aviv (JTA) — As more
Israelis, especially children
and the elderly, are falling
into poverty, Israel's labor
minister has announced that
she will propose means to try
to redress the worrisome
trend.
Armed with a sheaf of
statistical evidence, Ora
Namir, minister of labor and
social affairs, disclosed this
week that some 616,500
Israelis were living in pov-
erty in 1992, a figure up 9.7
percent over the previous
year.
Even more troubling was
the increased number of
children living below the
poverty line — 261,700 in
1992, up 11.6 percent over
1991. Figures for 1993 are
not yet available.
Ms. Namir said her pro-
posal to ease the situation
would cost 410 million
shekels, the equivalent of
some $140 million.
Her plan includes an in-
crease in child allowances
for poor families allotted by
the National Insurance In-
stitute.
She also said her plan
would help reduce the ero-
sion of benefits to pen-
sioners.
While 14.9 percent of
Israeli families were living
below the poverty line in
1991, their numbers in-
creased last year to 16.9 per-
cent.
Some 21,700 families —
54,300 people — slid below
the poverty line in 1992, br-
inging the number of
families classified as poor up
to 174,000.
The Labor Ministry's
definition of poverty, as of
Nov. 1, is an income of no
more than 791 shekels, some
$270, for one person; 1,672
shekels, or $570, for a cou-
ple; 2,022 shekels, or $690,
for a couple with two chil-
dren; and 2,369 shekels, the
equivalent of $808, for a
couple with three children.
By comparison, Israel's
gross minimum wage is
1,397 shekels, equal to $477.
Ms. Namir noted that the
two groups hurting the most
are the elderly and an in-
creasing number of families
with four children or more.
She said that the gradual
erosion of pensions in the
past three years is the main
factor impoverishing the el-
derly.
The percentage of elderly
people living in poverty rose

from 13.7 percent in 1991 to
18.5 percent last year.
Some 11,700 elderly
households fell below the
poverty line in 1992, bring-
ing the number up 36 per-
cent, to 44,200 households.
The number of large
families under the poverty
line also jumped 36 percent,
from 19,200 families in 1991
to 26,200 in 1992.
But new immigrant
families have improved their
lot.
While 34.6 percent of new
immigrant families were
under the poverty line in
1991, their numbers had
fallen to 29.5 percent last
year.
Officials and Israelis in
general were shocked by the
figures released.
Likud Knesset members
blamed the current Labor
government for the problem
and announced they would
introduce no-confidence mo-
tions in the parliament and
call for the government's
immediate resignation be-
cause of the "shocking state
of affairs."
But their complaints were
silenced as soon as Labor
Ministry spokespersons
pointed out that the figures
Ms. Namir was presenting
referred to the 1991-1992
period, during which the
Likud government was in
power.

❑

IDF Trims
Service Time

Tel Aviv (JTA) — The Israel
Defense Force is planning to
trim four months from the
current three-year term of
compulsory service.
The recommendation to
reduce the length of service
was made by a special IDF
panel.
The IDF chief of staff, Lt.
Gen. Ehud Barak, told the
Cabinet at its weekly
meeting that he had ac-
cepted the panel's recom-
mendations.
He said the measure would
be put into effect as soon as
new regulations had been
formulated and approved by
the defense minister — who
is also Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Rabin — and the
Cabinet.
The reduction in length of
service will begin with men
inducted into the army
earlier this year and be com-
pleted by 1997. ❑