NGO puts politicians on empty cans to stop preserving Israeli poverty

On Monday, Latet released their annual "alternative" poverty report, which unlike the State of Israel's official poverty report, measures poverty according to households lacking essential needs.

DECEMBER 12, 2019 21:38

Latet to sell empty cans with politicians' faces as a call to action against poverty (photo credit: RACHEL WOLF) — Latet to sell empty cans with politicians' faces as a call to action against poverty

(photo credit: RACHEL WOLF)

In order to raise public awareness of the issue of poverty in Israel, the nonprofit Latet is going to set up a special booth at Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market offering cans featuring politicians, under the motto “Let’s stop preserving poverty.” The catch? The cans are empty.

On Monday, Latet released their annual "alternative" poverty report, which unlike the State of Israel's official poverty report, measures poverty according to households lacking essential needs, such as housing, education, healthcare, food security and ability to cover the cost of living, and not merely on income.

Citing a "lost year" in the war on want due to the ongoing political stalemate, the report found that more than 2.3 million Israelis and 530,000 families are living in poverty today, including over one million children.

For this reason, cans featuring the pictures of ten political leaders, from the major parties – including Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu, Blue and White’s Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu’s Avidgor Liberman, Joint List’s Ayman Odeh – will fill the shelves.

The message on cans reads “full of preservatives,” while the ingredients include “lack of equality,” “youth at risk,” “repeated rounds of elections,” and “lack of redistributive justice.”

Latet explained that the initiative aims to demonstrate that there is a solution to poverty, and it is a matter of redefining the priorities.

"When there are no systemic tools, governmental plan, or long-term processes, there is no chance of escaping poverty or creating tangible social change," Latet Chairman Gilles Darmon and Executive Director Eran Weintrob said in a joint statement commenting the poverty report.

"The next government will already have an opportunity in the 2020 budget to stop maintaining poverty levels, to enable dignified living for the elderly and a better future for one million poor children," they added.

With a donation of 10 NIS, people at the Carmel Market will be able to buy one of the special cans or can opener.

Eytan Halon contributed to this report.