Evacuee community in south
Photo: AFP
Compensation bill for Gaza evacuees passes 1st reading
Proposed bill guarantees basic pension income to evacuees whose businesses collapsed following 2005 disengagement. MK Elkin: Compensation will allow evacuees to continue their lives in spite of past traumas
The Knesset on Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill that would grant compensation to business owners evacuated from Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip during Israel's unilateral withdrawal in 2005.
The bill passed by a 39-MK majority.
The proposed bill guarantees a basic pension income to evacuees whose businesses collapsed following the disengagement, and have not yet resumed activity. According to the bill, this income would be calculated according to past net earnings and revenues. The motion, initiated by Knesset members Zeev Elkin (Likud) and Arieh Eldad (National Union), also calls to boost the momentum of these businesses by the provision of funds for rehabilitation.
The bill is part of a series of legislative measures aimed at implementing the recommendations of a state commission of inquiry headed by retired Judge Eliyahu Matza.
The committee's 500-page report said, "The State of Israel has failed in its treatment of the evacuees" and called for the government to place the issue at the top of the national agenda.
MK Elkin told the plenum, "Five years after the disengagement, it's time for the welfare state to take care of evacuated business owners so they may continue their lives in spite of past traumas. Accordingly, government support for this law is welcomed and warranted."
