Tel-Chai Nation

Statistics were taken for the poverty rate in this country, including among Arabs and Haredis, and while it was discovered it decreased among Arabs, it only increased among Haredis:

The poverty rate among the Arab population declined by some 7 percentage points, from 54.4% in 2012 to 47.4% in 2013. This was attributed primarily to an increase in employment, especially among women. Despite the improvement, families from this sector were still roughly 3.5 times more likely to be under the poverty line than Jewish families, the report found.

In contrast, the poverty rate among the ultra-Orthodox increased to 66% in 2013 from 60% in 2012. The report attributes this to a lack of increase in employment, low earnings, and the government cutback in child allotments.

The problem is their refusal to seek legitimate employment, or to put any value on Hilchot's request that the faithful to Judaism take responsibility. I figure it also ties in to some increased resentment some Haredis have towards the rest of society that's leading them to become more insular.

But if the government's cut back on welfare, that's good, because it might have the effect of making clear they'll have to start working more seriously, and can't run their lifestyle at wider society's expense.

Update: in this op-ed at The Times of Israel, they explain that for some of these communities, both Haredi and Muslim, poverty is a choice. And that's sad anybody would literally want to live poor.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Israeli Arabs