With her bare tattooed arms and uncovered head, Talia looks a bit out of place as she shops at a Jerusalem discount store that serves modestly dressed ultra-Orthodox Jews.

“I have no choice but to come here,” the 32-year-old nurse told AFP, asking not to be fully credited as she discusses her family’s financial struggles at a time when food prices in Israel are skyrocketing climb.

She worries about being able to support her two children even though she and her husband, who repairs household appliances, “work like crazy”, night shifts for her and weekend jobs for him.

“We can’t do it anymore,” she said in frustration as she filled her cart with boxes of pasta while avoiding the more expensive items.

It’s a familiar problem for millions of Israelis, who have endured soaring consumer prices for years and have not fully benefited from an era of rapid economic growth fueled by a high-tech boom.

Much of the world has seen rapid inflation since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine earlier this year, which has pushed up energy and food prices everywhere.

But in Israel — where 400 grams of canned tuna can cost about 30 shekels (about $8.50) each — the problem has been acute for years and is blamed in part on the strong shekel, which makes imports more expensive.

Tel Aviv, with its soaring property prices, was named the world’s most expensive city by The Economist last year, and simmering anger over costs and income inequality is particularly widespread.

Israel, with its turbulent politics, returns to the polls next Tuesday for its fifth general election in less than four years.

Historically, Israeli voting patterns have been shaped by religious and ethnic affiliation, and most importantly, views on the Palestinian conflict.

But this time, ahead of the Nov. 1 vote, the cost of living crisis has become a major issue for candidates, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Both have promised action to fix the problem as inflation this month hit a decade high at 4.6 percent year-on-year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, but without giving too many details.

Rami Levy, the owner of a popular supermarket chain that describes itself as budget, told AFP that its sales rose 15 percent last year as middle-class earners increasingly sought out cheaper groceries.

“As prices go up, people who used to be able to afford to shop close to home because they know it’s cheaper are coming to us,” said Levy, whose eponymous chain of stores is spread across Israel and West Bank settlements.

One Rami Levy shopper was Ayelet Benshoshan, who strolled the aisles under flashy colorful signs offering discounts on pickles, meat and canned tuna.

“We’ve always been cautious, but now there are things that we just don’t buy anymore,” she said, explaining that she sells “candy, crackers, cream desserts and certain cereals for more than 20 shekels (about $6) a pack.” cut out”.

With five children at home, she says, she and her husband, a maintenance worker, “barely” get by.

“I’m making more and more things at home, especially bread and cakes, so I don’t have to buy them.”

Aron Troen, who teaches at the School of Public Health at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, stressed that even middle-class families are under pressure from food security and healthy eating has become less affordable.

“When food prices rise quickly and wages don’t keep up, the middle class has to spend more, not just on food but on rent, transportation, gas and education,” he told AFP.

He noted that many families “are struggling to get healthy food…People start by changing their diet, then the quality of their diet, and then they start skipping meals or just feeding their kids.”

The Israel Social Security Agency estimates that by 2021 more than 20 percent of the population would be food insecure, a term the UN defines as a lack of regular access to safe and nutritious food.

Israel’s largest non-governmental organization fighting poverty and food insecurity, Latet, put that figure at 30 percent for the past year.

Just days before the election, Benshoshan expressed hope that future politicians would focus on the plight of the middle class.

“I want them to think of us, ordinary citizens who work hard and whose salaries have not increased, who have children, who pay our taxes, who have done our community or military service,” she said.

“We deserve a simpler life… We’re the middle class that’s really starting to fall apart. I hope they will listen to us.”