ההרעה במצבו הכספי של המוסד לביטח לאומי והשלכותיה על ערעור הזכויות הסוציאליות: ביטוח אבטלה כמקרה בוחן

At the heart of this article is the question of whether the deterioration in the financial situation of social insurance programs and the change in their funding sources has been affecting the legislation of entitlements of the insured public. We examined this question through a case study of the Israeli unemployment insurance program, whose independent sources were eroded and which has to rely now on external budgetary sources to pay unemployment benefits. Our findings show that the deterioration in the program’s financial situation is correlated with a series of cuts whose frequency and severity increased as the financial situation worsened. We also find that this correlation is not accidental, as the financial deterioration served as a major reason forpas sing legislative amendments that tightened eligibility criteria, reduced the level of benefits and shortened the period of eligibility for receipt