Israel asks Germany to fund Holocaust survivors' stipends - Haaretz

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Thu., September 27, 2007 ,

Israel Time: 09:59 (EST+7)

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		A Holocaust survivor attending a special Knesset discussion last month on the financial state of survivors in Israel. (Tess Scheflan / BauBau)

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Last update - 08:33 17/09/2007

Israel asks Germany to fund Holocaust survivors' stipends

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel has asked the German government to fund an annual NIS 150 million in stipends for about 8,000 Holocaust survivors. Representatives of the prime minister on Sunday provided survivor organizations with a summary of their negotiations, including a few new details.

Under the deal, the key new benefit is a stipend for 8,000 concentration camp and ghetto survivors who previously had not been receiving anything. These survivors will now be entitled to a monthly NIS 1,000 stipend and service vouchers worth an annual NIS 2,400. The total value of this package is slated to rise to NIS 1,600 a month by 2010.

"Compensation for this group, an estimated 8,000 people, will be funded by the German government," the summary states.

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The parties agreed that next year, Israel will provide NIS 100 million for medical and nursing services for Holocaust survivors, a sum that will double to NIS 200 million in 2009. Most of the money will be distributed through the Holocaust Survivors Welfare Fund. Survivors also will be entitled to discounts on medications, public broadcasting fees, municipal taxes and taxes on electrical appliances. In addition, needy survivors
will receive annual grants of NIS 4,000.

The request for more German funding was submitted a few days ago, but no formal response has been received. Off the record, senior Berlin officials say the German government is likely to agree to provide the additional NIS 150 million a year, recognizing responsibility for these survivors who had "fallen between the cracks." In addition, the parties say Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided to concede to the Israeli government on this matter.

Not all the agreements are covered by the state budget, and the parties decided that in addition to increased German assistance, "extra-budgetary resources will be raised, both in Israel and abroad," referring to the Claims Conference and the Company for Restitution of Holocaust Victims Assets.

One unsettled matter concerns Holocaust refugees who escaped areas occupied by Germany (Second Circle Survivors), who total around 65,000 people in Israel. Despite survivor organizations' demands, the prime minister refused to grant any special treatment to these individuals, determining the matter would be handled under a comprehensive stipend
plan for Israel's elderly that National Economics Council chair Manuel Trachtenberg is drafting.

The parties also decided to establish an information center to collect all existing data regarding Holocaust survivors in Israel and to inform them of their rights. A special decoration will be awarded to all Holocaust survivors as part of Israel's 60th independence events.

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1.	Watch out, Palestinians	22:18	\|	Axel	16/09/07

2.	Asking someone else	22:22	\|	Ella	16/09/07

3.	#1 Axel	22:36	\|	D	16/09/07

4.	You can be sure Angie will solve the problem!She`s great!	22:52	\|	Alan	16/09/07

5.	#1 Axel	22:52	\|	Alan	16/09/07

6.	German money is welcome, Germans are not	23:02	\|	Axel	16/09/07

7.	Not a single agura	00:25	\|	Leo	17/09/07

8.	Do we know no shame	00:28	\|	Liz	17/09/07

9.	#6 Good Germans are welcome.	00:40	\|	Laila	17/09/07

10.	"The Holocaust Industry" written by Norman Finkelstein	01:05	\|	nobodysacred	17/09/07

11.	How much longer	01:49	\|	Red	17/09/07

12.	Stipends for survivors	02:25	\|	Saba	17/09/07

13.	Shame on Israel	03:05	\|	Moise	17/09/07

14.	Start Banking Your Sheckels Boys	03:27	\|	Nite Owl	17/09/07

15.	to 14 Nite Owl	06:11	\|	Lavy	17/09/07

16.	What arrogance from the upstarts in Israel	06:57	\|	Dutch	17/09/07

17.	Unmitigated gall	07:51	\|	Rey	17/09/07

18.	Deir Yassin	07:57	\|	Rey	17/09/07

19.	Israel the thief and disgrace	08:49	\|	Grif	17/09/07

20.	Kfar Etzion	09:15	\|	New Day	17/09/07

21.	Laila (#6)	09:28	\|	christoph	17/09/07

22.	Not German, but stolen money	09:38	\|	Jonathan S	17/09/07

23.	Germany	10:19	\|	croll	17/09/07

24.	Axel (#6)	10:20	\|	christoph	17/09/07

25.	I never asked for money	10:23	\|	sweis Melbourne	17/09/07

26.	Beggar`s cap in one hand and a hot potato in the other...	10:38	\|	Highlander	17/09/07

27.	lavy 15	12:59	\|	realism	17/09/07

28.	# 24 christopher	16:42	\|	Axel	17/09/07

29.	cristoph (#21)	16:43	\|	Alex	17/09/07

30.	the funding is justified	16:52	\|	Alex	17/09/07

31.	# 30 alex	18:43	\|	Axel	17/09/07

32.	axel	09:31	\|	sweis Melbourne	18/09/07

33.	Axel, Israel takes all and give nothing	12:19	\|	Dutch	19/09/07

34.	The funniest part	09:41	\|	Tad	27/09/07

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