Last week's meeting on Holocaust survivors
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Shoah survivors optimistic about meeting with PM
Final meeting between Holocaust survivors' representatives and government officials before Sunday meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ends with no significant results. Sources say some issues worked out
A meeting between representatives of Holocaust survivors and government officials that was held Thursday evening on the dispute over allowence budgets for survivors ended without significant results. The teams did manage to reach compromises on a few issues, but most of the main controversial matters remained unsolved.
Holocaust
Prime minister says most important task at hand is to assist death camp survivors who have not received any allowances until now. ‘Government officials are sitting here because they really care,’ survivor representative says
This was the last meeting between the teams before the survivors' representatives meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday. Olmert is expected to make the final decisions in negotiations on the serious issues.
At the center of the debate is the problem of refugees who fled to the Soviet Union during World War II. This group includes immigrants who mostly live in poverty and survive on National Insurance allowances.
The matter of the refugees has stirred controversy during meetings between representatives of the Social Affairs Ministry and the Finance Ministry, since aiding these survivors would call for a large addition to the budget.
Sources close to the negotiations said that talks on the refugee problem were held around the recommendations of the Itzkovich report, which dealt with the matter. Government officials are not willing to accept its recommendations and implement them in full.
Director-General of the Welfare Ministry and composer of the report Nahum Itzkovich told Ynet, "Even though there seems to be no answer for this group, I hope that the prime minister finds a solution to the problem." He added that he felt the conclusions of his report will eventually be implemented.
During the meeting, which lasted over five hours, the teams discussed dozens of issues and even reached agreements on the sums of money that will be allocated by the government.
It was decided in the meeting that an immediate solution would be found for the "first cycle" of survivors, namely some 7,000 to 10,000 people who did not receive survivor status for various reasons and have fallen through the cracks.
Holocaust survivors are hanging their hopes on their upcoming meeting with Olmert and hope that his decisions on the unresolved issues lead to the end of the exhausting negotiations.
Speaking optimistically before the meeting with Olmert, Chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors, Noah Flug, said, "There are still some issues that are disputed and will be brought up in the meeting with the prime minister. Overall, both parties reached agreements and the meeting was positive and to-the-point."
