Germans asked to fund NIS 150m in stipends for Holocaust survivors - Haaretz

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Tue., September 18, 2007 ,

Israel Time: 02:37 (EST+7)

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Germans asked to fund NIS 150m in stipends for Holocaust survivors

By Anshel Pfeffer

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 yesterday 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.

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

Israel to double sum

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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