Israelis rate poverty as most crucial issue

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Israeli public has deemed poverty as the most urgent problem the government needs to tackle, according to the "Alternative Poverty Report" published by the Latet organization on Tuesday. The second most urgent problem, according to the public, is the level of education, while the security problem came in at only third. Nearly one third of Israelis said they were concerned that they or their family could descend into poverty in the near future, while over one half said that they knew at least one person who had been able to live at a decent level but was now unable to. According to the report, 80 percent of the public thinks that the government doesn't help and only makes matters worse. Most of the needy, according to the report were high school educated or lower, and were for the most part of Sephardic descent.