The cabinet approved on Sunday a proposal to extend the financial aid granted to former members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) who currently reside in Israel by one year.
Of the 600 SLA families who withdrew from Lebanon alongwith the IDF in 2000, some 200 are being handled by the Defense Ministry, while the Housing Ministry is in charge of the remaining families' welfare.
SLA families rally outside Defense Ministry a year ago (Photo: Ofer Amram)
The aid for the 400 families handled by the Housing Ministry gradually decreased over the past 18 months, and reached a mere NIS 284 ($77) a month per family. The approved proposal calls for allocating NIS 2.8 million ($760,000) towards the families' housing needs, and Minister Peled vowed to find a permanent solution for the SLA community in Israel so that the aid will not have to be approved on a yearly basis.
"Most former SLA members do not have steady work in Israel and their income is very low," Peled said, "Therefore, the housing aid is very significant to them. The government of Israel has been helping these families pay their rent since 2000, and we are currently drafting a comprehensive five-year plan to determine an end date for the State's support of this population."
Yusuf, a former SLA soldier, said, "Let's not be naïve; another year of aid is like morphine, its effect will wear off quickly and we'll find ourselves in the same situation.
"Senior SLA members were given villas. Instead of finding permanent housing solutions for "simple soldiers" nine years ago, the State continues to waste public money on rent."
However, former SLA soldier Abd, who resides in Ma'a lot, lauded Minister Peled's efforts to "solve our problems once and for all.
"We hope the government's decision (to approve the aid) will pave the way for regulating our status here after 10 years," he said.