Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Protestors rally for Holocaust survivors living in poverty
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Initiative to aid Holocaust survivors
Social affairs ministry to present new multi-million dollar initiative designed to provide tens of thousands of Holocaust survivors with much needed, long overdue aid
Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday and present him with the key principles of a new initiative put together by his office in cooperation with various organizations involved in aiding Holocaust survivors.
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Herzog, who in April lamented the deplorable situation of many elderly survivors in Israel, pledged that his office would now shoulder the responsibility of caring for them.
The initiative includes expanding the current criteria used by the state to identify an individual as a Holocaust survivor, thereby bringing in some 150,000 survivors, mostly new immigrants from the former Soviet Union, into the fold of those eligible for stipends.
The initiative is priced at over $250 million a year and would be financed by funds from the Jewish Agency, the Holocaust Claims Committee, the National Insurance Institute, reparations from Germany and various social organizations.
The new policy would also see the state reviewing the financial situation of individual survivors and determining the necessary increase in their stipend.
An alternative suggested by the ministerial committee pitching the initiative is increasing the existing monthly stipends by $350. This alternative also includes a yearly financial package of $1,500 to survivors who are not eligible for reparations or a regular stipend.
The initiative also proposed offering survivors a "basket of services" which includes catering services, housing aid, emotional support, medical services and aid with everyday needs.
Another crucial part of the plan advocates the importance of informing survivors of their rights through seminars, internet sites and informative multilingual newsletters.
During the presentation of the new initiative to the prime minister the Social Affairs Ministry plans to ask the government committee on ceremonies and symbols to consider issuing a special decoration recognizing their survival.
