20 percent of Israeli families – some 1.7 million people – live in poverty.
This is according to a report released on Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
The number for poor Israelis includes 873,000 children, about a third of the country’s population under the age of 18.
Although the numbers are distressingly high, they represent a significant improvement over previous years and actually show that the poverty rate is at its lowest point since 2003. “I can inform you that for the first time we are seeing the beginning of narrowing gaps, the beginning of a poverty-reduction trend in all populations: the elderly, children, and the two most disadvantaged groups, the haredim and the Arabs. This is an important topic we are dealing with every day,” said Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz.
Source: Internatioal Christian Embassy, Jerusalem (ICEJ.org).
My comment:
It would be wrong to hide that Israel is a secular nation, that struggles with the same challenges as other secular nations.
The distribution of wealth, is not perfect in Israel either.
The book of Acts, explains that the first Christians had everything in common. They sold everything, and made it available for the Apostles and the community of believers.
The closest modern day Israel have been this kind of socially, was when the Jews had lost almost everything. It was in the days after the Holocaust. When the Jews came home from refugee camps in Europe, they formed Kibutz’es. People who lived in such communities could get what they needed, and was asked to contribute as per capacity.
Today, only fragments of the Kibutz culture is left in Israel. The secular majority is as materialistic and hedonistic as the rest of the Western World.
James warns us of the coming slaughter.
James 5:5
You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter.
To all who collect whatever for them selves. Dp not forget that it is more blessed to give, than to receive.
Written by Ivar
ivarfjeld.com 
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