What does an average Israeli family (two parents, both working, two children, a mortgage and a dog) with a monthly income amounting to NIS 9,600 ($2,500 per month) have in common with a similar family whose monthly income is as high as NIS  26,000 (on the order of $6,800)? Anyone even slightly familiar with the cost of living in Israel would say straight away that in terms of their standard of living, the two families are far removed — the one living from hand to mouth, while the other is living in relative comfort — and that they thus have nothing in common

However, judging by the wonders of statistics, there is actually no difference between these two families. Both are categorized as “middle-class” Israeli families. It is that same socio-economic class on whose behalf tens of thousands took to the streets in the summer of 2011, calling for social justice, and it is that same class in whose name a whole array of candidates ran in the recent parliamentary elections. One of the contenders, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, running under the banner of “strengthening the middle class,” has even managed to attain a record achievement, garnering 19 mandates, which render his party the second largest in Israel.

So, what is the middle class really like? 

According to the dry statistical data, the middle class comprises all those households whose income ranges from 75% of the median income (the income that a half of all households earn less than and the other half, more than that income) up to 200% above the median income. In 2010, the median income in Israel was about NIS 13,000 [$3,500] per household, and the income gaps between households were accordingly wide.