A dispatch from Jerusalem in today's New York Times reports: "Although Israel's economy is regarded as relatively strong and stable, having weathered the global economic downturn, the growth of recent years has directly benefited a small percentage of the population, living costs are high — perhaps because of a lack of competition, experts say — and the gap between the rich and the poor has been increasing."
In fact, to the contrary, the most recently published report on the topic from the Bank of Israel says, "Since 2006, the level of inequality in Israel has stabilized and even declined slightly...The increase in the rates of employment among population groups that are characterized by low participation and employment rates and a high incidence of poverty (particularly among Arab women and the ultra-Orthodox) has increased their relative share of income and has contributed to a reduction in the inequality of economic income."