TEL AVIV, January 25, 2009 (WAFA)- Haaretz Israeli Daily Newspaper quoted a report showing that the overall percentage of Palestinians citizens of Israel living below the poverty line declined from 51.4% in the second half of 2007 to 50.1% in the first half of 2008.

Commenting on this figure, Dr. Shlomo Swirski, the academic director of the Adva Center, a non-partisan policy analysis organization, told Haaretz: “When half of the Arab population still lives below the poverty line, this is a national shame and it is difficult to see these figures as a source of pride in achievement.”

The semi-annual poverty report published by the national Insurance Institute also showed a decline in the percentage of senior Israeli citizens living below the poverty line, from 22.6% at the end of 2007 to 22.2% at the beginning of 2008.

While the number of families below the poverty line in the center of Israel decreased among the Jewish population, the report added, it rose among Arabs in both this region and the south. In Haifa and the north, however, the number of Jews below the poverty line rose, while the number of Arabs decreased.

The report stated that 418,000 families were living below the poverty line, representing 1.63 million people, 777,400 of them children.

The percentage of unemployed poor families rose in relation to the previous report for 2007, from 69% to 71.4%. however, the percentage of working poor also rose: Families with two or more breadwinners living below the poverty line increased from 21.3% to 23.6%, and became poorer by a rate of 7 to 10%.