Nearly 1 in 10 Israelis Face Severe Food Insecurity, Experts Urge Political Action

As the Jewish New Year approaches, with holiday spending adding to household budgets, a significant portion of Israelis are struggling with basic food security. According to National Insurance Institute data, 27.1% of Israeli citizens experience food insecurity, and nearly 10% face severe food insecurity, often meaning they regularly skip meals. With elections looming in less than two months, and a government plan to address this issue stalled for 18 months, 28 prominent academics and CEOs of organizations have penned a letter to all party leaders. They are demanding a public commitment to implement the recommendations of the National Council for Food Security.

The initiative was led by the Council's chairman, Professor Asher Elhayani, and the Forum for the Struggle Against Poverty, along with former Council chairman Professor Roni Strier. The signatories include leading figures from academia and humanitarian organizations, such as Professor Nir Ohad from Tel Aviv University, Professor Ronit Endevelt from the Ministry of Health, Professor Nadav Davidovitch from Ben-Gurion University, and Eran Wintrob, CEO of Latet Israeli Humanitarian Aid.

The letter highlights that 963,000 households report an inability to afford healthy food due to budget constraints. The appeal comes 18 months after the National Council for Food Security, established by law in 2011, published a national framework for food security in March 2025. The recommendations were shelved after the then-Minister of Welfare, Yaakov Margi, resigned shortly after their presentation.

The signatories are not asking for new plans but for the next government to allocate funding to the already developed program. Their primary demand is at least 300 million shekels for the National Food Security Initiative in the Ministry of Welfare for the first year, with gradual increases and integration into the ministry's core budget. They also call for the program's expansion to reach all families in need and for aid amounts to be indexed to food price inflation.

Beyond direct aid, the demands address food prices for the general population, urging the government to make healthy food accessible through measures like price controls, reduced VAT on basic healthy products, and direct subsidies. They also advocate for expanding school meal programs to middle schools and reducing the financial burden on low-income municipalities. Further recommendations include budgeting for local government programs, establishing a national food rescue initiative, and creating a permanent system for monitoring and research to track the effectiveness of anti-poverty measures.