State to fund trips for families of abducted soldiers
New proposal calls on Knesset to finance trips abroad for family members working to free their loved ones. Karnit Goldwasser, wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud, welcomes proposal: 'It's a personal matter, but it's also a national one. If this bill is passed it would be of great help to us'
For close to a year now the families of kidnapped Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have been circling the globe in an endless procession of high-profile meetings with world leaders to try and secure their loved ones' release.
So far, every single venture has been paid for privately by the families themselves.
But a new bill proposed by MK Israel Hasson (Israel Beitenu) may change all that and require the State to cover the families' considerable expenses. According to the bill the minister of defense would authorize the funding for each individual trip.
"The trips these families take abroad are a national undertaking, not a private whim. Over the course of the past year we have learned that these direct meetings between world leaders and the families of the abducted soldiers are indescribably more important than a meeting with any statesman would be," said MK Hasson.
Hasson said he only recently discovered that the families had been paying for the trips from their own pocket. "The State is obligated to care for the release of their sons, but it must also financially support the families in overseas visits meant to help being them back," said Hasson, adding that operations to free the soldiers must not depend on the economic capabilities of their families.
Karnit Goldwasser, wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud Goldwasser, spoke with Ynet and confirmed that so far the trips had been paid for by the families. "A bill proposal like this would be an enormous help to us and if, heaven forbid, any other families will need it in the future, it will also be of great help to them."
Goldwasser said that she understood that unofficial trips, though also made to help free the soldiers, could not be paid for by the State.
"But official trips, like our meeting with the UN Secretary General for instance, why should I have to pay for that? It's true that this is a personal matter, but it's also a national one. We hoped to bring the boys home soon, but a year has gone by and they are still being held captive," she said.
