Kahlon, insurance companies work to compensate fire victims
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon claims that as reports show 95% of the damage was caused by hostile activities, property owners will be fully compensated by the state in accordance with the law; 'We will not leave even a single family without an appropriate solution whose property was damaged as a result of the wave of fires over the last week,' promises Kahlon.
“Not one family who lost it home and property will be left uncompensated. This I promise,” said Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynet’s sister publication. According to Kahlon, in light of the reports he received, 95% of the damage caused by the fires will be recognized as the result of hostile activities—therefore the property owners will be fully compensated by the state in accordance with the law. Regarding the remaining 5%, which are not recognized as the result of hostile activities, Kahlon promised that “We will make special arrangements for them. Even those who did not take out private insurance on their properties will be compensated. We will not leave even a single family without an appropriate solution whose property was damaged as a result of the wave of fires over the last week."
He also explained on Tuesday night that “This evening a committee of the Finance Ministry, chaired by Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas), “met with representatives of seven insurance companies and reached an agreement by which the state would pay a specific sum to a family and any compensation left outstanding would be covered by the companies. The state will not pay the full costs of damages and various household items such as valuable paintings, jewelry and the like. We agreed with these companies that they will pay the insurance beyond what the state agrees to pay even though they are not obliged to do so according to existing laws pertaining to fires caused by acts of terrorism. The majority of the companies already agreed and answered our requests in the affirmative. We are still in discussions with others.”
In addition, MK Itzik Shmuli (Zionist Union) has submitted another bill to aid those affected by the fires, which has gained the support of dozens of other MKs. The bill would have insurance companies pay for the damages of the fires, even if they will not be deemed acts of terrorism. Shmuli stated that "I don't see a reason why those whose houses burned down should be the ones to suffer a loss, instead of having the insurance companies carry this burden, after property owners have been paying them a great deal of money over the course of their entire lives."
Despite Kahlon's statement, Israel Police stressed that "The authority to decide on compensation from the state belongs to property tax alone." After publishing the list of municipalities yesterday, in which the fires were reportedly found to have been the result of nationalistic-motivated arson, many citizens began filing damage claims, saying that the police was conducting an arson investigation even in municipalities where that were not included on the published list. As such, the police found itself in a sensitive situation where it is able to decide whether a citizen whose house caught fire will be considered the victim of an act of terrorism.
The police therefore decided to clarify that much of the information being put out can be unsubstantiated and misleading. "We would like to clarify that there is currently a large number of open investigations regarding the fires. We would also like to stress that an investigation does not necessarily indicate arson. Investigations are also conducted in cases of negligence." Weather, the police added, is also looked at as a possible explanation. It is not ruling anything out at this time.
Meir Turgeman contributed to this report
