Stephen Lendman: Netanyahu's Israel !!

He has made Israel more unfit to live in than any of his predecessors. Palestinians have no rights whatever. Israeli Arabs have few. Most Jews are losing theirs incrementally. Neoliberal harshness plans destroying Israel's safety net entirely. Budget cuts target housing, healthcare, education, employment and welfare. Labor rights are eroding. So is public education. Disabled Israelis find it harder than ever to find jobs. Regressive taxes benefit business and wealthy elites. Others least able to afford it face growing burdens. Poor Israelis are blamed for their own condition. Increasingly they're left on their own sink, or swim. Judicial help is absent. Courts reject petitions against cutbacks in income insurance and benefits for the elderly. Others affecting education and healthcare were denied. Even Israel's High Court is unsympathetic. Former civil service officials complain. Diminishing social services harm growing numbers of Israelis. Netanyahu prioritizes eliminating them altogether. The problem borders on grave. It gets little attention. Waging war on Palestine and threatening Iran matter more. Israel's most disadvantaged face growing poverty, homelessness, and hunger. Yad Eliezer addresses these problems. It says over 700,000 Israeli children are impoverished. It's many thousands more than that. The gap between rich and poor increases annually. Deprivation accompanies it. Netanyahu cut welfare instead of increasing it to help those most in need. Ezrat Avot helps poor families. It says growing numbers "are simply not making it. There is a large proportion of society here who are working and don't have enough money for food." Some are low income workers. Others work part time or are partially disabled. Israeli government data says one fourth of Israelis are impoverished. It's double the OECD average. It's the second highest among OECD countries. Food insecurity is a major problem. Families worry about getting enough to eat. Others face homelessness. Conditions are getting progressively worse.