Crime victim's husband calls on state to offer more assistance

Widow says families who lose loved ones to violent crime should receive same compensation as terror victims.

By RUTH EGLASH
lautin 224.88 (photo credit: Channel 2)
lautin 224.88
(photo credit: Channel 2)
Innocent citizens who become victims of organized crime should be compensated by the state in the same way as victims of terror, according to Alexander Lautin, whose wife, Margarita, was gunned down in July during a botched underworld assassination attempt on a Bat Yam beach. "The families of those killed by terrorist Samir Kuntar lost their loved ones on the beach just like I did and they received support from the state," Lautin, now a widowed father of two, told The Jerusalem Post Monday. "We also have to be recognized in the same way as terror victims so that we can get the necessary help to heal our families." "We have received nothing from the government, who is not even willing to recognize that such [mafia-style] crimes exist," he continued. "Terror victims get financial support, psychological help and other benefits from the National Insurance Institute, and we get nothing." Lautin, who addressed the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee on Monday, said that the only help he has received so far was from the local municipality in his home town of Yehud, who sent a social worker to visit the family. "Apart from that, I have been getting help from my parents and [Margarita's] parents," he said, adding that his wife's parents were also in need of emotional and financial support to help them deal with their loss. "They want to move from Petah Tikva to Yehud in order to be nearer the grandchildren, so they can help out," explained Lautin. "But without the funds, they're stuck." A spokesman for the NII confirmed to the Post that victims of crime, either organized or otherwise, were not entitled to any benefits - financial or supportive - under current NII law. "The Welfare and Social Services Ministry recently established a committee to investigate how we can help these families," he said. "But to date, there is no state-sponsored help available for them." "This situation is absurd," commented Shas MK David Azoulay, who is in the process of drafting legislation to oblige the NII to support these families. "These families are left completely alone. They have to pay for the shiva and funeral costs all by themselves. Where are they supposed to get this kind of money from? They don't get psychological help or any support services at all." Azoulay pointed out that these inadequacies were in contrast to the situation of convicted felons, who receive social and support services while they are in prison. "It's not normal that even the families of these criminals get help, but the families of the victims get nothing," he said. The bill Azoulay is preparing demands that victims of violent crimes and their families be treated in the same way as victims of terror.