NGO: Decrease in child allotments will hurt Arabs

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday to cancel the planned cuts in child allotments, which they claim primarily hurt Arabs, where more than half of the children are living below the poverty line.Sawsan Zaher, a lawyer and director of the social and economic rights unit at Adalah, told The Jerusalem Post that her organization works against anything that negatively affects the Arab sector. She added that the bill would also hurt the haredim (ultra-Orthodox) who tend to have larger families.Adalah, an NGO, released a press statement saying the new budget, that reduces child allotments from NIS 175 to 140 a month, will have a significant impact for families with many children. Today, a family of six receives NIS 1,938 a month and this would decrease to NIS 840 under the new plan.Adalah’s statement also quoted Zaher as saying the child allotment allows for parents to raise their children with dignity.MK Dov Lipman of Yesh Atid told the Post that he disagrees that the new budget will hurt haredim and Arabs. “Our fiscal plan will specifically help the haredi and Arab sectors with programs to help them join the workforce instead of living off welfare,” he said.He added, "Extra money has been set aside in the welfare ministry to help the weakest sectors in the short term despite the cuts in child benefits and in the long run these populations will have the tools to sustain themselves with dignity."