Finance Ministry allocates additional NIS 300 million to Holocaust survivors

Lapid announces new funds intended to resolve compensation issues of survivors who made aliya after October 1, 1953.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Holocaust survivors 521 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Holocaust survivors 521
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Finance Minister Yair Lapid ordered ministry officials on Sunday to immediately resolve the issue of concentration camp and ghetto survivors who made aliya after October 1, 1953.
Lapid announced the allocation of NIS 300 million intended to end 61 years of disparity and equate their allowances to Holocaust survivors who arrived in the country prior to this date. The new reforms will enable some 18,500 Holocaust survivors to receive additional benefits.
The new funds will raise the amount of compensation to be paid under the Disabled Victims of Nazi Persecution Law, which is determined by the degree of disability of the survivors. Basic remuneration ranges from NIS 1,825 per month for a survivor with a disability of 25 percent to NIS 5,405 per month for 100 percent disability.
In addition, survivors who are defined as needy, based upon income, will receive increased allowances depending on the degree of their disability.
The compensation ranges from NIS 5,300 to NIS 9,000 per month.
The reforms also called for the full financing of health care and treatment of diseases recognized as related to the persecution faced by Holocaust survivors.
Furthermore, in the case of the death of a survivor recognized under the Disabled Victims of Nazi Persecution Law, the spouse will be eligible to receive compensation for 36 months following the death.
In the case where survivors receive increased remuneration during their lifetime, their spouses will receive allowances for the remainder of their lives, minus their additional income.
The new reforms join the some NIS 800 million already allocated toward improving the conditions of Holocaust survivors this past year, since Lapid became finance minister.
Also on Sunday, the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee approved amendments to the Holocaust Victims’ Assets Law. The amendments to the law were essentially designed to facilitate the various bureaucratic procedures and promote restitution totaling over NIS 300 million to the rightful heirs of Holocaust victims. To date, the company has retrieved assets totaling some NIS 100 million.