A foundation supporting Holocaust victims in Israel suspended the financial
benefits survivors can receive for medical needs for the 2012 year on Thursday
due to an overflow of requests and a shortage in the allocated
budget.
The sum, which is about NIS 4,000, is meant to retroactively
reimburse survivors for the medical bills they had to pay during the year. The
coverage includes dental treatment, medical equipment, travel for oncological
and dialysis treatments, eyeglasses and cardio-beeper services.
Eligible
survivors, whose monthly income must not exceed NIS 8,158 (including benefits
from abroad), are required to collect medical expenses receipts in order to
receive the refund from The Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in
Israel.
The NGO Aviv for Holocaust Survivors called for government
authorities to intervene this week in order to “prevent further injury to
survivors’ benefits” and “act to make sure similar situations do not occur in
the future.”
“This sudden announcement of the closure of grants for 2012
is a direct hit to the thousands of Holocaust survivors who really need, rely
and depend on this assistance,” Aviva Silverman, the organization’s director,
said in a statement yesterday.
According to Silverman, only about half of
Holocaust survivors living in Israel today are aware of their rights and fully
make use of them.
Another organization, Ken Lazaken, which assists senior
citizens in Israel, strongly criticized the government on Thursday calling the
lack of assistance to survivors “A usual act”: “Yet again thousands of survivors
are left without help. There are no limits to the chutzpah, lack of compassion
and harassment of Holocaust survivors.”
He continued in a statement,
“There is enough money in the government for the 34 ministers, who have no
conscience, to get luxury cars and whatnot. Only for survivors, there is no
money. Let’s not get confused, the Foundation for the Benefits of
Holocaust Survivors is an extension of the Ministry of Finance and does what the
ministry says.”
According to the Treasury, however, the amounts
transferred to the Foundation have grown considerably in recent years: In 2009
the fund was allocated a sum of NIS 159 million and in 2010, it had a sum of NIS
170m. available to it.
In 2011 the budget diminished, after a system was
installed where Holocaust survivors can be reimbursed on medication purchases
directly at the pharmacy, taking the responsibility off the
Foundation.
The Finance Ministry wrote in a statement: “The ministry
financially supports various public institutions which provide assistance for
Holocaust Survivors socially, economically and medically. The Foundation, like
others, is however independent in terms of how it distributes its money. It
needs to plan its operations by considering the amount of the support and
providing assistance to all those entitled to it.”
“This is not the first
time it happens,” a source within the ministry told The Jerusalem Post, “It got
better though, because previously, they used to run out of money by April, this
years it’s November. The bottom line is they really need to know how to manage
their budget.”
On its website, the foundation explained earlier this week
that survivors who did not submit their yearly application for financial
assistance by Thursday, will only be able to send their request in 2013, which
means they will not receive benefits this year.