Statistics released by Israel's National Insurance Institute reveal that 1.6 million people - out of a population of 8 million - lived below the poverty line in 2013.

Almost one in three children was living in poverty, and the figures place Israel as the third worst country in the OECD for poverty levels. The figures were an improvement on those for 2012, with a 1.7 per cent drop in those living in poverty, a 2.9 per cent drop in children living in poverty, and a 6.9 per cent drop in Arabs living in poverty.

But these changes reflected a "one-off improvement", according to Hebrew University poverty expert Avi Simhon. He pointed out that, in 2013, negative income tax kicked in for low earners, boosting salaries by up to 15 per cent.