Beyond simple charity: A nonprofit empowers the poor to become independent

One in four Israelis lives below the poverty line, “which is unbelievable,” said Eli Cohen, CEO of Pitchon Lev, an apolitical not-for-profit established in 1998 as a national humanitarian organization focused on breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty in Israel.

In an interview with the Magazine, Cohen said that the most accurate figures are from two years ago, when the percentage of poverty-stricken Israelis was about 23% – 1.98 million people. “However, if you look at the current situation, since October 7, I think it’s much worse.

“It’s nationwide – throughout the country, in every city and in every village. We see poor people everywhere. Of course, it’s worse among the ultra-Orthodox and Arab Israelis. For instance, if the national figure was 20%, the percentage would be 30% in those communities.”

Pitchon Lev, which translates as “opening one’s mouth,” means in this case to give people a voice in society. The organization is giving a voice to those plagued by poverty by representing them through advocacy and promoting legislative change. It advocates for food security and lobbies government ministers and lawmakers, striving to create an inter-ministerial authority to confront the issue.

“We’re trying to make important changes,” Cohen said. “The most important one is to create a national authority to combat poverty in Israel, which would be the first time in Israeli history that the government takes responsibility for making a difference in those people’s lives.

“The first reading of the bill in the Knesset has already passed, and we’re preparing to get it through the second and third readings” so that it will become law.

“We appealed to all the political parties in the Knesset, across the spectrum. I don’t think there was any other time that a bill passed in Israel with no objections...

“For the first time in Israel, a goal will be set. Furthermore, the authority will publish a report stating the goals that we set.”

“The authority will be the poor people’s mouth,” he stated. “Whenever a new law is being considered, if it has anything to do with the poverty situation, the authority will give its opinion about that law.

“For instance, if we say we’re going to change the cost of public transportation, what does it mean for poor people? It could mean no social gatherings for those living below the poverty line, as well as their inability to even get to places like the National Insurance Institute. If you can’t get there, you can’t discuss your rights. Nobody talks about it.”

In a press release in the fall, Cohen pointed to a 67% increase in the price of lentils, about 28% for bulgur, about 20% for dry peas, 42% for rice, and a “meteoric increase” of 74% in the price of beans, among other examples.

Alleviating poverty

THE COMMITTEE for the War Against Poverty in Israel (the Elalouf Committee), established in November 2013 at the initiative of then-minister of social affairs and social services Meir Cohen and headed by MK Elie Elalouf, sought to formulate a comprehensive, long-term plan to alleviate poverty and the increasing levels of inequality. The Magazine asked [Eli] Cohen why it didn’t succeed and why he expects Pitchon Lev's initiative to achieve better results.

“At the end of the day, it didn’t manage to get the government to accept responsibility,” he said. The committee produced what could be described as “an amazing report that sits in someone’s drawer.”

“When things don’t work out, they say it’s politics. When things do work out, we should also acknowledge that it’s politics. In our case, the [ultra-Orthodox] Shas party, during the last elections, included our initiative as one of the major issues on its platform. It was a ‘sense of mission’ that they included in their campaign.”

Last November, three weeks after the Israel-Hamas war started, Cohen penned a letter to the finance minister, the economy minister, and other relevant ministries, saying that under the current circumstances, prices will continue to rise. Milk prices have risen five times since the war started, he said, adding that “the government must do something about it.”

The letter called for the issuing of a control order on basic consumer prices, noting the “emergency situation.”

“The prices of food products have increased by 30-50% and, in practice, make it significantly more difficult for the Israeli public to manage a household. It is even more serious when it comes to the families trapped in poverty and those who were dragged there in the last months of the war, when the little that they had diminished even more...

“The last year highlighted the striking difference in the state’s taxation of companies versus the salaried public. The inequality screams to the sky regarding corporate taxation in Israel, which is one of the lowest in the world, compared to the citizens of Israel, who are subject to one of the highest taxes in the Western world,” he wrote.

The letter denounced what he said was a “complete absence of regulation.”

“The increase in basic food prices not only affects the scope of aid to soldiers, the security forces, and the families of the southern and northern settlements during the fighting, but it also hurts the families in the cycle of poverty, who have weakened even more since the beginning of the fighting,” he stated in a press release.

According to the Jewish concept of charity, the highest form of tzedakah is to empower poor people to support themselves financially, which is Pitchon Lev’s ultimate vision.

“We want to work with people so that after a while, they won’t need financial aid from Pitchon Lev or anyone else. This is our goal,” Cohen said.

“To achieve that goal, we work in three stages,” he explained. “The first is short term. Each week, throughout the year, we supply food parcels and all the personal needs, whether it’s a haircut, glasses, or dental work... We make sure they get everything the country says they’re entitled to.

“Second, we take them to the Lehaytiv (“to make it better”) project. We check to see why they’re not working – or, if they are working, why they’re working at such a low-paying job. We work with them for one year, together with the family. We want to solve the problem within that year and put them in a suitable place of employment or increase their income by 15% or more, making sure they’re going above the poverty line.

“For the long term, we have an educational program. We take the kids in the family on a program that lasts seven years – three years in high school, three years in the army, and one year after that. We work with them to maximize their potential. At the end of the program, we place them on a vocational path or in academic studies, depending on what’s right for them.”

Cohen pointed to a “very sad” fact: “If a boy is born into a poor family, I will anticipate – and I will be correct in 78% of the cases – that he will die as a poor man. With our Lehaytiv program, one in four families will go above the poverty line within one year; and in our educational program, 84% of participants will finish above the poverty line. 

“We’re making a huge difference. Instead of 78% remaining poor, we’re making sure that 84% will not remain poor.

“When it comes to charitable donations, the government has mandated that we set aside 13% of each donation for staff and expenses. We use less than half of it – 5.4%. Therefore, if you donate NIS 100, we will use NIS 5.40 for expenses and the remaining amount for humanitarian activities.

For more information, visit pitchonlev.org.il.