Aimed at enhancing the well-being of the population, with special concern for the weaker elements of the society, Israel has enacted a wide range of social legislation and set up extensive social assistance programs and community services throughout the country.

Care of the elderly, assistance for single parents, programs for children and youth, adoption agencies,as well as prevention and treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse, comprise a large part of the services available to individuals and families. Correctional services encompass adult and juvenile probation frameworks, remedial programs for school dropouts, and residential and observational services for youth in distress. Sheltered workshops and employment counseling are among the rehabilitation services available for the physically disabled. Mentally retarded persons are cared for through various residential and community-based programs.

Care and services for the elderly have become a major component of Israel's health and social service capabilities. While the total population has increased five-fold since the country's establishment, the number of senior citizens (age 65+) has increased 10-fold, now representing nearly 10 percent of Israel's over 7 million inhabitants. Much of this growth has been due to mass immigration. Over one million immigrants have arrived since 1989, more than 12 percent of them aged 65 and over.

Many of Israel's elderly, some 13 percent of whom are disabled, are dependent upon family and community resources. Community-based services for senior citizens include assisting families caring for an aged person, senior citizens' clubs, meals-on-wheels, sheltered housing, daycare, medical equipment and transportation. Schools of social work in universities offer graduate and postgraduate training, combining theoretical study with fieldwork. Special courses for childcare workers and social service aides, as well as in-service training for social workers, are available throughout the country.

THE NATIONAL INSURANCE INSTITUTE provides all Israeli residents with a broad range of benefits such as supplementary payments to families and individuals whose income is below the determined minimum, child allowances, unemployment benefits, disability payments, survivors' benefits, old-age pensions, maternity benefits (including up to three months' paid leave) and long-term care for all elderly persons dependent on daily assistance.

PROJECT RENEWAL was launched in the late 1970s with the aim of rehabilitating disadvantaged neighborhoods. Under the direction of government and local authorities, with the active participation of nearly 100 Jewish communities abroad, each "twinned" with a specific locality, the project has successfully expanded and improved the social and educational infrastructure and motivated the residents to assume more responsibility for their own well-being.

VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS (278 of them), involving almost one third of Israel's citizenry from teenagers to pensioners, are dedicated to a variety of activities in the areas of health, education, immigrant absorption, rehabilitation of the handicapped, soldiers' welfare, the arts, environmental conservation and the like. Some groups provide direct community services, from day care centers to programs for senior citizens, while others deal with issues specific to a given group or locality. Various programs offer volunteers from abroad a chance to serve in Israel, usually on a short-term basis. The composition of the contemporary volunteer force differs from that of previous generations. Longevity provides many retirees, both men and women, with time to help out; and university students commonly volunteer to tutor disadvantaged children and teenagers.