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Welfare, not food handouts By Haaretz Editorial Tags: Isaac Herzog, social affairs  Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog this week demanded that the government increase funding for non-profit food distribution organizations from about NIS 3 million a year to NIS 50 million. Herzog also demanded the establishment of a public council to ensure nutrition security in Israel, which would regulate the non-profits and examine the needs of the poor. People who lack nutrition security are not starving, but are in distress. In the United States the term is used to describe a population in need of special assistance, particularly poor children and the elderly. The American solution is government food stamps. European welfare states use the term less frequently; the state is supposed to ensure that no one lacks food. Even though the model of the European welfare state was never fully applied in Israel, where in recent years transfer payments have been slashed and recipient criteria tightened, Israel has a sophisticated social welfare system built on the National Insurance Institute and the Social Affairs Ministry. These two bodies are supposed to protect it very carefully. Advertisement Now the minister in charge of the system is defining support for private food banks as "welfare policy." Herzog bases this demand on an April report by a committee headed by his director general. However, that report is based on meager information (almost no studies or data exist on lack of nutrition security in Israel). It was also based on the reports of the associations, particularly Latet, whose 2008 activities are costing NIS 37 million, one of about 120 food distribution groups in Israel. These associations, who proudly proclaim that 98 percent of their funding comes from private donations, are Frankensteins. In recent years they have ratcheted up their activities to such an extent that they have absolved the government of the need to develop a welfare state's standard tools for solving nutrition insecurity: day-care centers, vocational training, school lunch programs, etc. And when these steps are implemented, they are dwarfed by the charities' huge public relations campaigns. Food distribution is a social honey trap, creating excess demand and fulfilling the organization heads' gloomy prophecies of growing need. Private contributions have been decreasing recently, in part because donors prefer to contribute to education. For lack of choice, the food distribution associations are turning to the government and threatening that if they do not receive support, there will be "a terrible collapse." The usual pretext of the groups, the committee and the minister is that this is a time of emergency and it is better that the associations, not the government, hand out food. This distorted thinking contradicts the principle of the welfare state. The government cannot order the associations to stop distributing food, but it must create universal solutions - teach people how to follow a budget, and offer vocational training and income assurance. Instead of depending on the nobles of the charity culture, Herzog should come to his senses and do his job as welfare minister. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Israel policy Obama camp dismisses Jesse Jackson's remarks on ridding the U.S. of 'Zionist control.' Welcome to AqsaTube The Palestinian militant group Hamas launches its own version of YouTube.

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