Ynet: “In Ukraine, I worked in a bank, in Israel, I am nobody”: how Ukrainian refugees are sliding into poverty

The story of Ukrainian refugees in Israel is increasingly ceasing to be a narrative of temporary salvation and is becoming more a story of prolonged survival. Material from Ynet dated April 16, 2026, illustrates this through the fate of 58-year-old Olga Mikolenko from Kharkiv: in Ukraine, she had an apartment, a job, and professional status, while in Israel, she has cleaning work from early morning until late evening, a side job on Fridays in a restaurant, and a rented apartment in Petah Tikva with six roommates.

For the Israeli audience, this topic is painful for several reasons. On one hand, Israel indeed provided Ukrainians with collective protection and did not leave them under the threat of immediate deportation. On the other hand, thousands of people have been living here for the fourth year in a state of limbo, without normal status, without stable social support, and often without real access to decent work.

Olga is not an exception but rather a concentrated example of how quickly war destroys a previous biography. In Kharkiv, she worked in a bank, had her own housing, and did not plan to move to Israel even in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion. But after her home was directly hit, there was no choice left: she had to go where there were relatives. Thus, Israel became not a new beginning but a refuge without a clear future.

Life under protection, but without stability

Formally, Ukrainian refugees in Israel are legally present. The state has provided them with collective protection, meaning they are not subject to immediate expulsion. But in fact, many of them remain in tourist status, which means a precarious position in almost everything: from finding work to renting housing and dealing with banks.

This is where the main nerve of the whole story lies. A person can live in a country legally but still not feel stability, protection, or prospects. Such a status does not provide a sense of normal life. It only postpones the catastrophe but does not cancel it.

Why even work does not save from poverty

Olga works cleaning office buildings, and on Fridays, she also works in a restaurant. Her day starts before dawn, and she returns home late in the evening. This is about a woman with three academic degrees who, in another life, was part of the professional class, not low-paid labor.

This is one of the most difficult conclusions of the material: for some Ukrainian refugees in Israel, the main problem is not the lack of any work, but the inability to convert past experience, education, and qualifications into a normal place in the new reality. They work a lot but live from paycheck to paycheck. They do not literally starve, but they gradually become poorer.

At the same time, Olga herself does not lose her inner support to the end. At night, she takes virtual courses and tries AI tools, and on Saturday — her only day off — she travels around the country with friends who, like her, came from Ukraine. In this detail, it is especially clear that it is not only about material need but also about a constant attempt to maintain dignity, interest in life, and a sense of being a person, not just a survivor.

After October 7, the situation worsened

According to data cited in the article with reference to the Israeli refugee aid organization A.S.A.F., there are currently about 23,000 Ukrainian refugees in Israel, mostly women who do not fall under the Law of Return. After October 7, 2023, the number of requests for help increased by about 70 percent. The organization itself speaks of pushing these people into poverty, as well as the constant deterioration of physical and mental conditions.

For the Israeli reader, this is an especially important point. The internal crisis, war, rising prices, social tension, and the redistribution of state priorities have hit not only the citizens of the country but also those who were already on the periphery of the system. Ukrainian refugees are among those whose situation can be called legal but unsettled.

Women under double pressure

The text separately emphasizes that prolonged life in “tourist” status increases the risks of exploitation and abuse, especially concerning women. Formally, they can work, but in practice, the lack of a clear document for the employer makes employment much more difficult. Many employers simply do not want to deal with such a gray area.

A similar situation exists with banking services. Opening an account, although allowed by the rules, often turns into a separate problem because bank employees do not always navigate the procedures and create additional barriers. And without an account, without a clear status, and without stable employment, a person finds themselves squeezed between formal legality and real vulnerability.

NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency sees not just a social report in this context, but a warning for the entire Israeli system: if a person lives under protection for years but without a clear status, without normal access to work, and without stable assistance, then a temporary humanitarian solution gradually turns into a mechanism for producing new poverty.

Olga in an interview says a phrase that sounds harsh but accurate: Israel is a very good and beautiful country, but only if you have money. This remark hits not at the state as such, but at the gap between formal presence in the country and the real possibility of living in it with dignity.

What this story tells Israel itself

The main meaning of this story is not reduced to the complaint of one woman.

It is a question of what happens to any country when it provides people with refuge but does not build a clear model for long-term stay. Israel helped Ukrainians not to be under bombs, but for a significant part of them, it did not create a clear trajectory further — especially for those who do not have the right to repatriation.

That is why the topic has long ceased to be narrowly Ukrainian.

It concerns Israel’s approach to refugees, to temporary protection, to women in vulnerable positions, to the right to work, and to human dignity. In conditions where Europe and the USA extend forms of protection for longer periods, the Israeli model looks much more nervous and less stable.

As a result, Israel faces not an abstract humanitarian choice, but a quite practical question: will the state continue to keep thousands of Ukrainians in limbo, or will it recognize that four years of war is no longer a temporary disruption but a new reality requiring different solutions. Because the story of Olga Mikolenko is not only about a refugee from Kharkiv. It is a story about how easy it is to lose a person between the law, bureaucracy, and the fatigue of society.