Israel’s cost of living crisis becomes election issue
Jerusalem - With her tattooed
arms bare and her head uncovered, Talia looks somewhat out of place shopping at a Jerusalem
discount supermarket that caters to modestly dressed ultra-orthodox Jews.
“I have no choice but to come here,” the 32-year-old nurse told AFP, asking not to be fully named as she discusses her family’s financial struggles at a time food prices are surging in Israel.
She worries about being able to feed her two children even though she and her husband, who repairs household appliances, ‘work like crazy’, including night shifts for her and weekend jobs for him.
“We can’t do it anymore,” she said in frustration as she filled her cart with packets of pasta while avoiding the pricier items.
It’s a familiar problem for millions of Israelis who have endured soaring consumer prices for years, failing to fully benefit from an era of rapid economic
growth driven by a high-tech boom.
Much of the world has endured rapid inflation since Russia’s war in Ukraine started early this year, driving up energy and
food prices everywhere. But in Israel - where 400 grammes of canned tuna can each cost
around 30 shekels (about
US$8.50) - the problem has been acute for years, blamed in
part on the strong shekel which makes imports more expensive.
Tel Aviv, with its soaring property prices, was ranked the world’s most expensive city by The Economist magazine last year, and simmering rage over costs and income inequality is
especially widespread.
‘Hardly coping’
Israel, with its turbulent politics, heads back to the polls next Tuesday, for the fifth general election in less than four years.
Historically, Israeli voting patterns have been shaped by religious and ethnic affiliation and, most importantly, views on the Palestinian conflict.
But this time, ahead of the November 1 vote, the cost-of-living
crisis has become a major issue for the candidates, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Ne
tanyahu. Both have promised action to redress the problem as inflation hit a decade-high this month of 4.6 per cent year-on
year according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, though without offering too many specifics.
Rami Levy, the owner of a popular supermarket chain that
bills itself as low-cost, told AFP that his sales are up 15 per cent over the past year as middle class earners have increasingly sought cheaper food.
“With prices rising, people who used to be able to afford to shop closer to home are coming to us because they know it’s cheaper,” said Levy, whose
chain of eponymous stores are spread across Israel and West Bank settlements.
One Rami Levy shopper was Ayelet Benshoshan, who strolled the aisles beneath bold coloured signs offering discounts on cucumbers, meat and canned tuna.
“We have always been careful, but now there are things that we have simply stopped buying,” she said, explaining that she has cut out ‘candy, crackers, cream desserts and certain cornflakes at more than 20 shekels (about US$6) a packet’.
With five children at home, she said she and her husband, a maintenance worker, are ‘hardly’ coping.