• The formation of the newly established state of Israel coincided with the rebuilding of the distraught lives of its inhablitants. In addition to the large Jewish population that immigrated to Israel, other 'lost' cultures that had previously resided in the region, primarily the Arabs, attempted to make the state their homeland. The hardships that Israeli families faced after World War II led to mass poverty around the newly developed state. While Israel has made vast improvements for children since their statehood, the state has a ways to go before reaching a level of satisfaction.

The Reality of Poverty

• The fact remains that one out of every five of the 2,022,700 children in the nation lives in poverty. The services for children that were once abundant are now being lessened. Poor children are suffering in terms of education, health services, and culture. In a recent study a 41% increase in acts of violence involving children was found since 1990. There are 436,000 Israeli children that are poor with the poverty level among non-Jews almost doubling over Jews. The striking statistic of almost 171,000 children were living in difficult economic circumstances in 1997 with their entire family's income based on welfare. Despite the astronomical amount of money spent on child welfare, the situation continues to grow worse. At the age of 18, every Israeli citizen serves in the Israeli Defense Forces. Men serve for 3 years and women for 2. This patriotic honor and responsibility leave many women widowed and children fatherless. As a result, the poverty level of these women grows worse each day. These horrible conditions excist for all of Israeli's. However, almost 25% of the immigrant children that arrived in between 1990-1997 live in poverty. Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, the executive director of the National Council for the Child, encourages Israelis to stop seeing children as an expense and start viewing them as an investment.

The Response to Poverty

• The tradition of taking care of needy children existed in the region even before the official birth of the state. The first institution was the Diskin Orphan's Home whose establishment was sparked by the influx of Russian Jews fleeing persecution by the Pogromos. Its creation was followed by the foundation of the Zion Orphanage in 1900 and the General Israel Orphan's Home for Girls in 1902. All orphanages were founded by religious groups whose ideology was to bring children up as God-fearing, honest, self-supporting young men ibued within the spirit of the Torah. These orphanages served poor children as well as children from broken homes. Following the holocaust, Israel began its process of providing actual governmental attention to the poverty in Israel in order to provide a more positive situation for the future of the state, the children. Israel became a group oriented society focussing its attention on children specifically. In order to provide poor children with a stable existence, many institutions were established. In 1950 the Bayit Lepletot home was started for refugee girls. This home provided a safe home for young, poor girls that needed help becoming positive citizens in society. Initially, these institutions appeared to aid the situation of poor children in Israel; however, they ultimately fell short in their goal to remove poverty.