- February 25, 2026
- 5:41 pm
- Israel
Four years after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the issue of Ukrainian refugees in Israel has once again come to the forefront of public discourse—not due to a loud political statement, but because of numbers that are hard to ignore: poverty, food insecurity, short visa extensions, and increased requests for assistance. These are people who are legally in the country and protected from deportation, yet live in a state of constant temporariness.
Source – publication Israel Hayom from February 24, 2026 citing a new report by the refugee aid organization ASAF in Israel; all key data and figures below are taken from this publication.
The story is important not only for the Ukrainian audience. For Israel, it is already a story about the resilience of the social system, the labor market, municipal burden, and the risks of exploiting people who are formally under protection but have effectively fallen out of the normal system of long-term support. And yes, this is a case where legal protection without social mechanisms ceases to function as full protection.
What exactly is said in the Israel Hayom material and why these numbers sound alarming
According to the data presented in the article, about 23 thousand Ukrainian citizens currently live in Israel, who are under temporary group protection but are not recognized as refugees and do not have basic social rights. This is the key framework of the whole story: people are not “outside the law,” but they are not integrated into the system in a way that would allow for a normal stable life.
Of these approximately 23 thousand, about 14 thousand arrived in Israel after February 24, 2022. The rest were already in the country earlier—as labor migrants or people without regularized status. The article specifically emphasizes that all of them are legally in Israel and protected from deportation due to the threat to their lives in their country.
But then begins what creates the main problem: the extension of stay permits occurs for short periods, without a long-term planning horizon. The publication states that the current visa/protection was extended until March 31, 2026. For a family with children, for a woman renting housing, for a person looking for work, this means one thing—living literally from extension to extension.
Israel Hayom also compares the Israeli approach with practices in Europe and the USA: there, as noted in the text, protection was provided for a year and even two years, which creates at least minimal predictability. Against this background, the Israeli model looks like a regime of constant uncertainty.
Poverty, rent, and food: where exactly everyday life breaks down
The strongest figures in the article are the block about everyday survival, especially for women.
According to the data presented in the material:
79% of Ukrainian women in Israel live in poverty;
about 70% of salary goes to rent;
only about 30% live in conditions of food security.
This is no longer just “difficult.” It is a structure where after paying for housing, there is almost no money left for food, medicine, transport, children’s needs, and any unforeseen expenses. And unforeseen expenses in real life are not rare, they are standard.
The article also provides a more detailed breakdown of the food situation: approximately half of the women are in a state of moderate food insecurity, and about a fifth are in a state of severe food insecurity. This means not only a decrease in quality of life but a direct risk of humanitarian distress within a country that itself is in prolonged military and economic tension.
Labor market, gray zones, and increased risk of exploitation after October 7
A separate and very important block of the material is employment. The article states that in a sample of approximately (surveyed – ed.) 110 women, about a third work illegally, and many combine legal and illegal employment. The main sectors are cleaning, care (caregivers/care sector), service/technical support, that is, segments where the risk of labor exploitation is traditionally higher.
This should be read without moralizing. For many, it is not a question of “choice,” but a question of survival in a system where official opportunities are limited, expenses are high, and there is no long-term support. When a person has a short extension, expensive rent, and unstable employment, they almost inevitably end up in the gray zone of the labor market.
The publication explicitly states that job loss after the start of the war in Israel and the absence of a “safety net” push women to extreme situations and increase the risk of exploitation, human trafficking, and so-called survival prostitution. This is one of the harshest formulations of the material, and it is precisely this that takes the topic beyond a bureaucratic dispute about statuses.
Why October 7 became the second point of impact for Ukrainian refugees
Israel Hayom provides another indicative figure: since October 7, 2023, the number of requests for assistance to the organization has increased by approximately 70%. Essentially, this is an indicator of a sharp deterioration in the situation—both financial and psychological.
The article describes this as a “double trauma”: first the war in Ukraine and the experience of fleeing, and then the war in Israel, which reactivates traumatic experiences and simultaneously reduces sources of income and support. Plus, the publication notes that the war in Israel also affected the community itself—the text mentions victims among the community.
And here the topic ceases to be “narrow.” Because it concerns not only Ukrainians but also how the Israeli system as a whole deals with long humanitarian crises in the context of its own war. This is a question for ministries, municipalities, NGOs, employers, and society as a whole.
In this context, NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees in the story not only a social plot but also a test of institutional maturity: can the state maintain a balance between security, migration policy, and the human minimum for those already under its protection.
What ASAF organization demands and what it can change in practice
According to the Israel Hayom publication, the organization calls on the Israeli authorities to adopt a set of quite specific decisions, rather than limit themselves to another short-term extension. The article lists the main demands:
Extend group protection at least until the end of the year
This is not a “luxury” or a political gesture. It is basic predictability for families, renters, employers, and schools. When the horizon is not 1–2 months, but at least until the end of the year, people can make decisions—from renting housing to treatment and work.
Open full access to medical insurance for all ages without a waiting period
The medical issue in such stories often arises late when the situation is already advanced. And here, according to the logic of the report and publication, it is about preventing collapse: if people do not have access to normal medicine, problems accumulate and then become more expensive for everyone.
Include refugees in the system of benefits and social services
This is probably the most sensitive point in terms of internal discussion in Israel. But the article effectively shows why without this point, other measures work weakly: if a person is protected from deportation but does not have access to basic social mechanisms, they still end up in a zone of poverty and risks.
Provide housing assistance
Against the backdrop of the figure about 70% of income on rent, this does not look like an additional measure, but a central one. As long as rent “eats up” the salary, any talk of stabilization remains theoretical.
The publication also presents the position of the organization’s CEO Tali Aarental: according to her, experience shows that prolonged stay without social rights pushes refugees into poverty, food insecurity, and deterioration of physical and mental health; she calls on the state to restore and expand assistance mechanisms to ensure people a protected and decent life.
What this means for Israel right now
If you look coldly, without slogans, the article records a simple thing: temporary protection in the conditions of a four-year war has ceased to be a short-term regime. And therefore, the tools should not be “emergency for a month,” but managerial and long-term.
For Israel, this is also a question of the reputation of the protection institution. Because the formula “we do not deport, but we do not provide basic social support” over time begins to work against everyone: against people, against the labor market, against municipal services, and against the very idea of legal certainty.
The open question now is how quickly the Israeli authorities will translate this topic from the mode of point extensions to the mode of systemic solution. And whether they will have time to do this before the next extension date, so that thousands of people do not again hang between “allowed to stay” and “impossible to live.”