530,700 Israeli children-25% of all of the children in the country-live below the poverty line, according to a report released by the Israeli National Insurance Institute. The number of children living in poverty is likely to grow in 2003, according to the experts. The dire circumstances in which these Israeli children are living is an indication of entire families in financial distress. Signs of how severe the problem is are all too apparent on the streets of Israel. In Jerusalem, for example, nearly 1,000 people a day come to four soup kitchens at which hot meals are served. It is also commonplace to see older men and women picking through the garbage at outdoor markets in Israel's cities. The collapse of the economy has taken a great toll on the lives of Israel's poorest families, and many children from middle-class families are now joining their ranks. Unemployment in Israel is around 10%, and the difficult economic situation has taken its toll on huge numbers of Israelis. WIZO--one of the largest providers of services to the children of Israel--has seen the effects of poverty on the people of Israel first-hand.