Israel grapples with own model of Wisconsin Works
Source: By STEVE SCHULTZE, Journal Sentinel (WI), Feb. 26, 2006
Welfare protesters took to the streets, angry over the program they said was indifferent to the needy. "Wisconsin does not create work, it creates poor!" read one banner. Police eventually were called in and arrested a few of the dozens of protesters. The focus of the dispute was the "Wisconsin Plan," a controversial program to substitute work for welfare that aims to drastically reduce the welfare caseload. But the venue was Israel 2006, not Wisconsin in 1996. And despite its similarities to Wisconsin Works, or W-2, the Israeli program is an experimental reform plan formally called Mehalev, a Hebrew term meaning "from the heart," as well as an acronym for "from dependency to self-sufficiency."