March of the Single Mothers

As Israel grapples with the big issues of peace and war and occupation, the country’s social fabric is in danger of unraveling. That is the message Vicki Knafo has brought to Jerusalem this summer.

A single mother of three from Mitzpe Ramon, a small, economically depressed town on Israel’s southern periphery, Knafo captured Israel’s imagination by walking 120 miles to set up camp in front of the Finance Ministry’s office, down the street from the Knesset. Wearing an Israeli flag around her shoulders as if it were a general’s cape, she came to the capital two weeks ago to protest the new economic program of Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially the severe cuts in monthly assistance from the state to single mothers.

Since then, Knafo has been joined by dozens of other mothers -- some with children in tow -- who’ve come from poor areas throughout Israel to set up a makeshift tent city outside the ministry. The encampment, now ending its second week, has attracted many other Israelis, who’ve come offering to do the campers’ laundry or with food or presents for the kids.

Netanyahu at first seemed to think he could shrug off the protest. Upon Knafo’s arrival in Jerusalem, in a “let them eat cake” gesture, he brought her a cheesecake. Later, he attacked her through the news media, saying that anyone who can walk 120 miles is strong enough to work.

The problem is that Knafo does work. She has been cooking food in a kindergarten, but -- although her ex-husband contributes $150 a month in child support -- she still can’t make ends meet. While the government claims Knafo’s fledgling movement is about women who don’t want to work, the fact is that many of these women either work or would like to. Israel’s unemployment rate is 10% and an even higher 25% in some of the towns where these women live. At least 15% of Israel’s work force currently is paid at or below the minimum wage of $700-$800 (U.S.) a month. Since most child care, health care and after-school programs are private in Israel, and a lot of fathers don’t help, many single mothers would need strong -- and today nonexistent -- support to rise out of poverty.

The mothers have ignited something in Israel that may extend far beyond their initial concerns. A poll published last weekend reported that 68% of Israelis support the struggle, 56% want it intensified and 58% expect other groups to join as more cuts kick in. This suggests Israelis are beginning to understand that a humane, secure, economically viable society is as important to Israel’s future as resolving the Palestinian situation.

Much of the blame for the Israeli economy’s decline can be placed on the massive expenditure Israel has made to preserve its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and on the collapse of tourism since the intifada. But these are not the sole factors. The high-tech bubble burst in Israel’s own Silicon Valleys, and Israel feels the pressure of global institutions and markets.

If the mothers achieve anything lasting, it will be a renewed focus on the economy. Netanyahu has blamed Israel’s financial troubles on the misguided path the country was led down by David Ben Gurion, Israeli’s first prime minister and a socialist. If Israel had merely trusted the free market, he has said, things would be much better today.

But in fact, in recent years there’s been little gap in economic policy between those who consider themselves Ben Gurion’s heirs and the conservative Likud Party. Moves to depress wages, privatize government functions and hire temporary and foreign workers with fewer rights have been embraced across the political spectrum. “If you ask someone are they left or right in Israel, they will tell you about [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas] or [Palestinian Authority President Yasser] Arafat, not single mothers,” said Knesset member Amir Peretz, the popular head of Histadrut, Israel’s labor federation, who organized strikes against Netanyahu’s proposals this spring.

Peretz, one of the few legislators who has outspokenly opposed Netanyahu’s economic austerity program, hopes that Knafo and the other women camping out in Jerusalem will cause Israelis to question the country’s direction. In addition to cutting welfare benefits, Netanyahu has proposed taking away collective bargaining rights for public sector workers and privatizing pensions. An Israeli newspaper reported that the United States has insisted that Netanyahu continue on his course and not capitulate to the mothers’ campaign if he wants Israel to get U.S. loan guarantees.

Peretz, a dove who supports a Palestinian state, worries that one reason so many Israelis have embraced conservative economic policies is that they’ve been alienated by the left having “hugged the peace so strong that they made [the peace process] distant to the vast public who must change the atmosphere.” Ultimately, he says, for the Labor Party -- and the peace camp -- to resurrect itself, it must integrate a full range of both economic and diplomatic goals into its agenda. Peretz’s Histadrut is lending support to Knafo and her women.

As the enormously sympathetic face of the flaws in Netanyahu’s policies, perhaps Knafo and the other women will inspire Israelis to think not just about physical security but about the broader issues of justice and economic democracy on which Israel was founded.