Knesset votes to increase aid to Holocaust survivors

18,500 legally recognized Holocaust survivors will be able to receive an annual grant of NIS 4,750 and a monthly stipend of NIS 1850.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Child survivors Auschwitz holocaust (photo credit: Reuters)
Child survivors Auschwitz holocaust
(photo credit: Reuters)
The Knesset voted for the government to spend an additional NIS 60 million to help Holocaust survivors on Monday.
The government-initiated law, which passed in its third (final) reading with 63 in favor and none opposed, gives all 18,500 legally recognized Holocaust survivors an annual grant of NIS 4,750. Currently, only the 6,000 survivors who receive income support are eligible to get the grant.
Survivors will receive the grant for 2014 this month, as well as a retroactive payment for 2013.
In addition, a monthly stipend of NIS 1850 will be now given in money as opposed to coupons for services, as it was before the law passed.
“This bill will benefit survivors, but it’s a fraction of what is needed,” Labor, Welfare and Health Committee chairman Haim Katz (Likud Beytenu) said when the panel approved it last month.
“We need to make sure Holocaust survivors get all they deserve,” he added.