A special session of the Knesset was convened Monday morning to discuss, among other things, the recent publication of several troubling poverty reports. In particular, the latest study released by the Latet charitable organization revealed that as many as one in three Israeli children are living below the poverty line.
The meeting - which also discussed Delek Group owner Yitzhak Tshuva's natural gas monopoly - was held at the behest of 25 members of the Knesset who sit in the opposition.
At the meeting, MK Menachem Eliezer Moses (United Torah Judaism) berated the outgoing government for the current economic situation in Israel.
"The outgoing government and those who served in economic ministries are responsible for the terrible poverty situation prevailing in this country," Moses stated.
Referring to the National Insurance Institute's report on poverty, Moses continued: "a third of poor citizens, and fifty percent of those who work, are still living below the poverty line. On top of all that, every fourth child in Israel goes to bed hungry!"
"This shocking, incomprehensible data was collected even after the establishment of committees [to deal with these issues]: the Food Security Committee, the Elaluf Committee [on poverty], and so on."
Moses added that similar behavior was exhibited when it came to Israel's housing crisis. "You [the government] set up committees. You called them the Supertankers [of solving this problem] - a committee for solving the housing crisis. And nothing has changed! On the contrary. The public is faced with a hopeless situation," Moses stressed.
"Now, before the election, it is important that the public senses and understands who is responsible for bringing us to the brink of the abyss, who led the the treasury and economic ministries and instead of fixing the problem - as the report says, let the poor become poorer and hungry children hungrier."
"We are fed up committees. The time for action has arrived," Moses emphasized.