Storms show us who can steer the ship. If minister-without-portfolio Tzachi Hanegbi were the captain, we'd all be drowning in a sea of "nonsense," as he characterized claims that the economic corona crisis has left some people without anything to eat. Hanegbi dismissed the problem of hunger in Israel, and later apologized. The opposition fired Twitter arrows at him. Commentators celebrated another juicy headline. But whose voices were silenced? The people who are going hungry.
Truth exists, and it can be measured. The government avoids any annual tracking of food security in Israel, and the last time it assessed the issue was in 2016. It took some time to dig up the data, but it is available to all of us. Food insecurity is defined as a lack of access to sufficient food to allow for a healthy, active life.
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The 2016 measurements found that nearly 18% of Israeli families suffer from food insecurity. Almost two in 10 families don't have enough food. Half of them are in a state of severe food insecurity. All this long before coronavirus arrived. Hanegbi, a minister without a portfolio, could have found this out in three keystrokes, which he apparently didn't bother to do.
And what is Israel doing about the issue? Very little, almost nothing. Most of the answers come from civil society and philanthropic organizations. Israelis who volunteer, donate, and organize to help hungry men and women. In recent years, the government has invested in three main areas: food parcels for the needy, Passover donations, and the Nutritional Security Initiative.
The last is a project that operates under the auspices of the Welfare Ministry and meets the needs of only 11,000 hungry families. The government funds only a third of its activity. The rest comes from donors, nonprofit groups, and local authorities. Even when the government "takes responsibility," it's only a partial answer to a much broader problem. And that's not all – getting the Treasury to release the paltry few million this year was like getting blood from a stone. In January and May, we fought, along with various food organizations, to save the project. The state budget also doesn't provide for families that fall into the wider circle of poverty and hunger.
TV hosts Ofira and Berko scolded Hanegbi, saying, "You're out of touch." They're right. The responses from politicians made it clear how little our elected officials know or care about food access. People with full bellies can't understand those who are starving. It looks as if the Right and Left in Israel have something in common, after all: the people who live in poverty are invisible to the decision-makers.
Our current campaign to have money for food assistance added to the state budget still hasn't found a sympathetic ear in the cabinet, outside the Welfare Ministry. It's obvious what needs to be done. Hanegbi and the rest of the ministers should launch a campaign to have food resources anchored in the budget. This is the way back to the path of righteousness. It's also clear what political action needs to be taken. No one counts the "second Israel." Without strong, committed political power that rises from periphery communities and works with them and on their behalf, we will continue to hear about how boring we are and how our needs are nothing but "nonsense."
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