The International Federation of Christians and Jews on Tuesday distributed over NIS 800,000 worth of food-aid vouchers to 2,400 Arab Israeli families ahead of Ramadan, which starts this weekend.

In distributing the vouchers to some 65 towns and villages across the country, IFCJ Executive Director and Founder Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein said that just as his organization provides welfare assistance to Jewish families for Jewish holidays, it also provides support to Muslim and other religious minorities in preparation for their festivals.

"On Muslim, Christian and Druse festivals throughout the year, the needy families from Israel´s minorities should also be entitled to the same support from society and the state," he said.

The vouchers, which can be redeemed in various supermarkets countrywide, are part of a new drive by the IFCJ to move away from the culture of distributing food baskets and allowing those in need of aid to determine for themselves what food to buy.

So far this year, the IFCJ has donated some NIS 14 million to Israel¹s weakest social economic populations, and additional social welfare projects are spread among 77 towns and cities countrywide. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 07/18/12)