Tel Aviv, MINA – Israel faces a growing aging crisis amid warnings over a future welfare deficit and mounting pressure on state institutions, according to a report published Sunday by the Israeli Haaretz daily.
The newspaper cited State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman as warning that Israel had failed to build a coordinated national response to its aging population despite more than a decade of official recognition of the issue as a major socioeconomic challenge.
“Aging of the population is one of the central challenges facing the State of Israel,” Englman said, describing proper care for the elderly population as a “moral and value-based obligation.”
He said the audit revealed “a large gap between governmental recognition of the importance of the challenge and action.”
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According to the report, around 1.3 million Israelis are currently aged 65 and above, accounting for 13 percent of the population, with the number expected to rise to 2 million by 2050.
Englman warned that rising spending on nursing care allowances could push the National Insurance Institute into a cash deficit by 2035.
The report found gaps in pensions, health care, long-term care, welfare services, and retirement support systems.
It also said responsibility for elderly affairs remains divided among several government bodies and institutions, without any single authority responsible for coordination, budgeting, or implementation.
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Englman said the government had failed to fully implement any of the four main policy tracks approved in 2015 to address population aging. The measures included maintaining the financial stability of health insurance, adapting retirement policies to longer life expectancy, increasing elderly employment, and improving health care and nursing systems.
The comptroller also warned that Israel still lacks a comprehensive multi-year national plan to address aging, while health care, welfare, and nursing systems continue to suffer from major structural gaps that could worsen in the coming decades.
He added that Israel’s health care system suffers from a severe shortage of geriatric specialists.
Englman concluded his report by warning that Israel’s population is aging rapidly while authorities remain unprepared for the economic, health, and social consequences of the trend.[]
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