Israel Faces Declining Education Scores and Rising Food Prices

Israel is experiencing a significant decline in educational performance, as evidenced by the latest OECD PISA test results for 2025. The country has seen a substantial drop in all measured areas, including reading comprehension, mathematics, and problem-solving, placing it among the lowest-performing nations. This educational downturn mirrors trends seen in other developed countries like Germany, Sweden, and Finland, which have also experienced declines and struggled with recovery, sometimes seeing temporary improvements followed by further drops.

Concurrently, Israel faces persistent issues with high food prices and shortages, particularly in products the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security claims to protect. Despite the ministry's stated goals of ensuring food security and availability at fair prices, critics argue its policies, such as restricting imports, contribute to prices being tens of percent higher than in other OECD countries. Official data indicates that while Israel's population has doubled since 2000, agricultural production has stagnated, driving up food costs significantly beyond inflation. Shortages of items like eggs and milk, especially around holidays, are recurring problems, while imported goods remain readily available.

Adding to the economic strain, Israeli businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones, are grappling with an increasing regulatory burden. A recent clarification by the Privacy Protection Authority regarding website cookie consent has inadvertently become the basis for numerous lawsuits. Businesses argue that this interpretation, which calls for active and explicit consent, goes beyond the authority's original intent and creates a significant legal and financial challenge, particularly for smaller enterprises already struggling with the economic fallout from the pandemic, war, high cost of living, and rising interest rates.