Introduction The number of Israel’s elderly (65 plus) has increased from just 85,200 (4.8% of the population) in 1955 to approximately 670,000 people (about 10%) in 2003 (Brodsky et al., 2005). According to the most conservative of three projections offered by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the number of seniors is expected to be approximately 676,500 (9.8% of the population) in 2005, to rise to 722,500 people (10.7% of the population) by 2010 and increase to 1,025,800 (almost 12% of the population) by the year 2020.