Much of this spending is devoted to the social services – education, health, personal social services, housing, and immigrant integration. In addition to these functions, there are the benefits paid to individuals and families by the National Insurance Institute, partly funded from the State budget. The aggregate of these two large categories constitutes the central-government social budget of the State of Israel.

This paper appears as a chapter in the Center’s annual publication, Israel’s Social Services 1998-99, Yaakov Kop (editor).