Nutrition Insecurity in Israel: Are Food Vouchers the Solution?

Some 16% of families in Israel suffer from food  insecurity and 21% of the population live below the poverty line — grave numbers compared to those in a majority of welfare states. A new study by the Taub Center examines the central policy tool adopted by Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic to deal with food insecurity – the distribution of food vouchers. The study found that there was a substantial gap between the number of families that received food vouchers and the number living below the poverty line in various towns. In Arab localities, and primarily in Bedouin localities, there was a large negative gap, while in Haredi communities there was a positive gap — that is, there were more families receiving food vouchers than there were living below the poverty line in these areas. This raises a suspicion of clientelism — an allocation of public resources by politicians aimed at increasing political support.

A new study by Taub Center researchers Prof. John Gal, Ori Oberman, and Nir Kaidar, examines the effectiveness of the food voucher program and its implementation in dealing with food insecurity, focusing on the local level and the interface between the distribution of food vouchers and the incidence of poverty.