Center-Left parties sign Pitchon Lev petition, committing to combating poverty

Herzog arrives at Rabin Square event to pledge commitment to promote legislation that would help alleviate poverty.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Herzog (photo credit: PETCHON LEV)
Herzog
(photo credit: PETCHON LEV)
Zionist Union party leader Isaac Herzog was the last on a list of Center and Left party leaders who pledged to address the issue of poverty, in collaboration with Pitchon Lev, an organization committed to eradicating poverty in Israel.
Herzog arrived at the organization’s makeshift headquarters in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday to sign a commitment to promote legislation that would require the government to carry out a national, multi-year and multi-systemic program alleviating poverty.
At the headquarters, Herzog reiterated his party’s commitment to fighting poverty and said he would do “all he could” as prime minister to eradicate poverty in the country.
He especially emphasized the need to combat poverty among the elderly and said he intends to pass a widespread economic plan that would benefit all Israeli citizens.
Herzog joined a list of party leaders who visited the headquarters in the past two weeks to sign the petition, including Zehava Gal-On (Meretz), Ayman Odeh (Joint Arab List), Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) and Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid).
“We established these headquarters on March 1 in an effort to remind and to return to the elected public officials and the next government the issue of treating poverty in Israel,” Nissim Zioni, founder and CEO of Pitchon Lev said Sunday.
Despite the overwhelming display of Center and Left party leaders, candidates from the Right failed to respond to the organization’s invitation.
Party leaders Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi), Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were all invited to sign the commitment “several times” but had yet to “show up,” Pitchon Lev said.
Haredi leaders Eli Yishai (Yahad) and Arye Deri (Shas), whose campaign platforms centered around the issue of alleviating poverty among their Sephardic ultra-Orthodox voter base, also did not respond to the invite to sign the petition, the organization said.