Red tape stalls survivors' stipends

Funds allocated for survivors of camps, ghettos won't be allotted till March due to bureaucratic process.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
holocaust survivors 248 88 aj (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
holocaust survivors 248 88 aj
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Israel's Holocaust survivors, who according to an agreement signed with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September of last year were supposed to receive increased stipends starting January 2008, will only collect the funds starting March, due to bureaucratic red tape. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, quoted by Army Radio, the required sum was wired to the Finance Ministry, which has yet to transfer the money. The treasury for its part claimed that "the stipend will be distributed as soon as soon as procedures are concluded." The decision to postpone the distribution of the funds for 8,500 survivors of concentration camps and ghettos to March was made during a meeting between the Prime Minister's Office director-general Ra'anan Dinur and officials from the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services. The stipend, approximately NIS 1,200 for every survivor, was being delayed due to the fact that legislation procedures have yet to be completed by the Knesset. The money will be transferred as soon as the legislation is completed, the Finance Ministry said.