Poverty rate falls in Israel

JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (JTA) — The Israeli poverty rate fell 0.8 percent in 1996 — to 16 percent of the overall population. According to figures released Monday by the National Insurance Institute, some 202,000 families lived below the poverty line in 1996, compared to 208,000 families the previous year. The rate of children living below the poverty line fell from 23.2 percent to 21.4 percent, for a total of 301,000 children. The poverty line in Israel was set at about $335 per month for an individual and about $535 per month for a couple. Labor Minister Eliyahu Yishai attributed the drop to a significant improvement in the ability of the National Insurance Institute to allocate money to counter negative developments in the economy, including rising unemployment. He said he intended to fight planned cuts in the 1998 budget that would lower government support to children. The cuts were part of a package proposed earlier this year by the Finance Ministry to reduce government deficits.