Underclass a Worry for Israel ; Economic Policies Divide Nation

Summary

---

JERUSALEM - The fissures in Israeli society have traditionally been defined by religion, ethnicity and how to make peace with the Arabs. Now economics is threatening to create an even wider divide.

New free-market policies have swollen the underclass, and for many who remember the egalitarian ethos on which the Jewish state was founded, the tonic of welfare cuts, mass layoffs and conspicuous consumption is hard to swallow.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Underclass a Worry for Israel ; Economic Policies Divide Nation

The government's National Insurance Institute, which handles welfare payments, reported recently that shrinking social spending, coupled with tax cuts that have primarily benefited the wealthy, are widening Israel's ...

See the full content of this document

---