Support groups for Holocaust survivors on Monday slammed a government decision for a new stipend that would grant 120,000 survivors living in Israel less than NIS 100 per month in 2008.

"It is saddening and insulting to discover that Israel prefers a biological solution for the plight of the Holocaust survivors," said Noah Plug, who heads an umbrella organization of survivors' advocacy groups.

The decision is applicable to survivors over the age of 70 who receive old age allowances. Each person can expect to receive NIS 83 per month (approximately $20) in the first year, a sum which will increase gradually until 2011.

	Advertisement

While the government promised that the amount would increase in upcoming years, Plug noted that statistics show that ten percent of Holocaust survivors die in Israel each year.

Labor MK Colette Avital, chairwoman of the Knesset lobby for Holocaust survivors, called the decision a "mockery."

"Are 1,000 shekels a year meant to solve the distress, the hunger and the need for medicine and assistance?" Avital asked.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Monday that Holocaust survivors over the age of 70 living in Israel will receive a special benefit to supplement their pensions and National Insurance allowances.

In line with the decision, the state will allocate NIS 120 million to the fund in 2008, a sum that will be doubled in 2009, and eventually reach more than NIS 300 million by 2011.

"It's a mockery," said Gita Koifman, 68, from Kiryat Motzkin. Koifman is a Ukranian Holocaust survivor, and chairwoman of an organization representing concentration camp and ghetto survivors.

"Whoever decided that 100 shekels can help someone who lives on NIS 2,100 per month is apparently living in another country. The survivors we're talking about may not be hungry for bread, but they do need medicine that they can't buy for themselves. They skimp on things you wouldn't imagine. The government is laughing at the survivors."

In addition to the monthly grant, which will be paid through the National Insurance Institute, millions of shekels will be allocated by non-governmental sources. Some of this amount is to go to the Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund, which pays for survivors' medical treatment. The same Fund will receive an additional NIS 10 million from the government.

The decision was described as based on conclusions and recommendations drawn up by an interministerial committee made up of Welfare Minister Yitzhak Herzog, Pensioners Minister Rafi Eitan and representatives from the health and finance ministries, National Insurance Institute and the Prime Minister's Office.

However, the committee actually recommended each survivor receive NIS 1,000 per month, not per year.

"We are correcting a 60-year-old blight," Olmert said of the decision. "Holocaust survivors living in Israel are entitled to live respectably without reaching a situation in which it is beyond their means to enjoy a hot meal.

"The neglect of successive governments will not continue. It is important to see to it that Holocaust survivors receive these supplements and are able to live honorably."