1.6m Israelis lived below poverty line in 07

Excerpts from Haaretz story: "Despite the improvement in all of Israel's economic indicators in 2007, a rise in the minimum wage, increased employment and higher real salaries; the country's poverty level remained almost unchanged in 2007. According to the National Insurance Institute's semi-annual poverty report released yesterday, 1,674,800 people were living under the poverty line in 2007 -- 24.7% of the Israeli population -- an increase of about 20,000 people over 2006. In mid-2006 the percentage was 24.4% and rose to 24.5% at the end of 2006. The number of children living in poverty reached 804,000; or 35.9% of all Israeli children. A year ago the figure was 35.2% and 35.8% six months ago....According to the NII report, there were 420,000 poor families in Israel last year, up from 404,000 in the previous annual report. The percentage of families below the poverty line rose slightly last year to 20.5%, up from 20.2% the previous year, as 2006 saw a small decrease. The report is based on the Central Bureau of Statistics' income survey."