Thousands march in Jerusalem to protest meager survivors' stipend

Yakov, the German government did not give the money directly to the survivors. You have asked the right questions. Only Israeli and perhaps German governments know the answer which they will never reveal. The only way to change the Israeli corruption is to vote in honest people which decade after decade the Israeli citizens refuse to do.

My mother in law survived years in Nazi concentration camps. The Israeli government prevented her from receiving the German compensation " Renta" due her. How did they do this? They arbitrarily said all immigrants from Poland who arrived after 1956 were not entitled. Where did the money go? Who got rich off of it? Yes she received a grant here and a grant there but no where close to what was alloted her. How many thousands like her are there? She died 6 months ago. The government is just dragging it all out waiting for them all to die to it will eventally have it all.

these talkbacks were not available on aug 6 others were.who makes thoes decisions? too anti the cause? the point being that the holocoust was and still is being used to isreals advantage and be damned morals values cost to human lives or any other considerations. israelis wouldnt see any thing wrong in that at all. but it is wrong to use genicide of your own people to your own advantage simplely because someone else is doing it/ which is not the case in ww2 where there was active partisapation on the part of zionist offcials

It is so hard to support a country that does so much so wrong. A year after murdering valiant Jewish boys who were sent to Lebanon to die for nothing, Olmert remains in office. Yes it is mostly the corrupt government that is source of the moral rot and malaise afflicting modern Israel but that the people seem to mostly tolerate it, or even think it's progress, is depressing and inexplicable to me.

In head of forced to read such headlines i somehow staring to ask myself of Israels right of existance. Where are all those big mouthed "jewish Leader's" Bronfman, Singer and consorts and the so honorfull "State of Israel" that where shouting about the swiss accounts and out-running life times of the Holocaust survivors. Where is all the money that Germany is paying in repatriation for the Holocaust survivors? It causes me a feeling of nausea imaging this disgracing rally in Israel, Jerusalem, right ahead of Yad Vashem. Never in my most horrifying nightmares i would have had the capability to imagine that Holocaust survivors would have to rally in the "jewish State" for their own well being and living. But in a State that does not carry anymore about there captivated soldiers, where the president is accused of raping, where part of the goverment is being investigated for corrupcy... What next Israel??..im almost sure that Israel is able even to top this disgracing headlines.

Danite, in a Soviet Israel, those survivors would have been taken of and not have to worry about their care in their remaining years. Lets get out of Danite's fanatical slurs and talk reality. Israel was formed to care and protect any Jew who came to their shores from birth to death(at least it was implied in its early days) These survivors who lost family, friends and possesions came to Israel so that they can have the dignity of being a Jew. However Israel wants to shed its identity as a Jewish State and be come another satelitte nation to Europe and the US, by sacrificficing its most needy to the horrors of materialistic wealth. This is an absolute disgrace!

Dear Kate, What a double standards your country is following? She still refuses to recognize the Armenian Holocaust (over 1 million killed) by Turkish Ottoman Empire . Ah, the political expediency not to offend the present Turkish government ? How convenient. What about millions of Slavs wiped out by the German Nazis and Soviet communists many of them Jews (Beria, Kaganovich, etc,etc).

Olmert is right. The march is politically motivated. It is motivated against the Tipshe Mikzoie, the progrssional idiots currently in government who are finishing the job started by the Nazi's

What's next? "we" deserve an additional stipend because we lived in Ma'abarot (transit camps, not the kibbutz) or because we came from Yemen or Russia, or I was born on a kibbutz? The survivors came to Israel, built a nation and built lives. Given the horrors they faced, they succeeded in leading relatively normal lives. Put the Holocause to bed already.

To what level of degeneracy has israel fallen when Holocaust survivors who protest at being given 20$US month are told they are insulting the memory of the Holocaust.Just another day in soviet israel.

It is mind boggling that the old Holocaust victims are living from hand-to-mouth in "their" Israel. On the other hand leaders of so called Jewish organizations, A.Foxman, Bronfman, Singer, etc.,etc command millions in their private accounts. SHAME and DISGUST.

Not sure your comments should even be justified with a response... but here it is anyway... Who taught you history? The holocaust was not a "2 year camp" from which people emerged and went on to become millionaires." It remains one of the most inhuman, brutal and inconceivable genocides in all the ages of man. Few survived and those who did have not always fared well. Your lack of appreciation for what the holocaust actually was and who the survivors are precludes any further answer to such a mundane excusing of a government who received millions of dollars in reparations, blew it all away and are now tossing crumbs to those it was meant to help.

the suvivors who persisted in anti social behaviour or made too much noise at night with their nightmares or had political ideas different from the mono-culture surrounding them soon found the police at their door and confined for life in the kafar shaul mental hospital where the last ones died a few years back meanwhile the goverment successfully applied for and kept their repatriations without giving them a cent. cannt be true ?nightmare senerio?

. The treatment of the survivors is a continuation of the screw the poor attitude of our decadent leadership .The much lauded`` JEWISH HEART``, so often boasted about in the Diaspera, has suffered a fatal stroke in our homeland.

hundreds of suviviors were given a gun put in the frount told to walk that way and without any military training were cut down at laturn and in other battles in 1948. especialy the younger stronger ones .military neceseity ?hardly think so . 9

this is the name which greeted holocoust survivors when they reached israel . as in 'come here soap' sabonit was the feminine form.all this seems strange to people who cant understand why survivors should be mistreated in the jewish state.but herein lies the key to unlock the paradox of the modern state of isreal where human rights violations are the norm not the exception.

This article is very superficial and uninformative.It is difficult to understand what is happening here. Has the German government given money to the Israeli government to distribute? Where are the other holocaust restitution orginizations in this? Doesn't the German government give money to individual survivors. Where is all the money for Holocaust survivors going?

Reduce MK's salary and give it to the survivors. Shame Shame Shame for this cold hearted group. 83 NIS will not even buy a bus pass. Will not even buy a good meal once a month for the survivors. What a way to Honor the remainder of the survivors. Where is the Torah value of honoring elders. Okay even if they do not have torah values, where is their human kindness.

How is it that their shameful first reaction to a protest is to deflect as "political" rather than to respond in a sensitive manner to such a grievious matter?! It sickens the stomach to think that leaders can be so self-centered and self-absorbed. Reminds me of Bush/Cheney "enterprises".

"does a survivor that spent 2 years an a camp the went on to make millions deserve a stipend?" - izzy d Are you suggesting that this is the criterion that should decide the worthiness of all the others? Olmert claims he is the first Prime Minister to award a stipend, the source for which is the German Government, who earmarked it for helping aged survivors. In his infinite canniness Olmert decided to make it go further by starting tiny and slowly increasing it over the next few years. This, as you can imagine, is helpful to Olmert not to survivors, who are diminishing in number every day. He thinks his largesse should go down in history nevertheless and that survivors should be grateful for having got anything at all. Not so hard to understand is it?

Tens of thousands of dollars are being poured into Holocaust memorials and museums. It is true that much of this money is private donations. However, it might be the right time to stop, temporarily, most of the money going to places like Yad Vashem and divert it to the needs of the survivors. In the future when the survivors have passed on the development of the institutions and memorials can be revived.

This government brings shame on the State of Israel.Reduce their income to 10% of what they receive now and give the other 90% to these Holocaust survivors, who have been robbed off long enough.

To keep himself in power, there is no crime Olmert wouldn't commit against Israel/Jews. With Jews like Olmert, Israel doesn't need enemies!

The grandson of a chief rabbi,the son of a gentleman,the scruples of a spoilt brat-Herzog in a nutshell-rubbish as is said in blighty.As for Olmert,a surname that is of strange origin,the officiuos fool to quote Robert Browning,a pasty faced figity individual,invested with a peoples'trust who philanders constantly and leaves swathes of broken people,dead soldiers,weeping orphans-the whole gamut.For this he will be forgotten

Olmert and his "little helpers" are starting to act and sound like the "clowns of the plo! Whatever roten, shoddy comment or deed you do, turn it around and blame the victim--but of all groups to pick on and belittle, why debase and insult this frail aging group of holocaust survivors?

These people have been to hell and back. The governments actions are giving Jew Haters and Israel bashers more ammunition. Shame on Israeli government. Did they forget who made Israel

Sirs, it's very, very sad, for Israel and the Jews, that the Welfare Minister, Isaac Herzog, is not able to understand who really is insulting the memory of the Holocaust: the elderly and needy Holocaust survivors? or the government of which the wealthy Mr. Herzog is a member? Best regards Giorgio S. Frankel Torino, Italy

"For example, those who lived in the ghettos less than 12 months, those who were in concentration camps less than 6 months, or survivors who have been in Israel less than 15 years. All in all there are 10,000 survivors who have endured the horrors of the Holocaust who fall through the cracks [under this law] and get nothing from the government." What is this rigmarole about less than 12 months ghetto and less than 6 months concentration camp, and why exclude survivors who have been in Israel less than 15 years? Don't tell me. Reduces the number of recipients. Either they were or they weren't - that should be the only criterion. Mr Olmert's complaints about the uniform are so Olmert. It's form not content as usual.

My great uncle was in Auschwitz, who the hell is Olmert to decrease whats not his???????

It may indeed be that there are internal disputes between survivors groups. Nothing should surprise anyone when the volatile mix of money and survival are brought together in the State of Israel. Why should it be any different here to the USA where there has been for decades a burgeoning holocaust industry that has served itself and not the survivors. That is a disease the very taint of which that should not be allowed to spread here. But something is very wrong indeed when what should be treated with the same sensitivity as Aron HaKodesh - the Holy Hrk - is allowed to descend into this deeply embarrassing imbroglio. Nothing is sacred it seems in the Jewish state. I plead with the Minister Herzog to resolve this unseemly mess as soon as possible. Such a demonstration should never have been necessary and coming after documentary tv evidence about impoverished survivors, the people of Israel need to see immediate remedies.

why exactly should the government be giving these people money? i mean, if they are poor and starving, they should get help, but so should non-holocaust survivors.

once again we all feel safe sitting at home writing "outraged" talkbacks attacking and slamming olmert the government and anybody else in a position of authority. Why is Olmert the one dictating this "injustice"? why is it not considerd for a moment that an endless supply of money does not exist or grow on olmerts backyard tree. I feel the need to question why all survivors need to recieve a stipend? does a survivor that spent 2 years an a camp the went on to make millions deserve a stipend?

Every second message here is about how Olmert is to blame for this farce. But what about ordinary Isrealis? They really showed their support today. Only hundreds of people showing up? Just as Olmert doesn't care, today the world can see that the Isrealis in general don't care.

Olmert says the most outrageous things despite the fact that he knows that he represents all of us. How can the man be so careless of his own reputation never mind that of the country of which he happens, by chance to be the PM? His views are decidedly not the views of the majority of Israelis.

why are there criticims by the government calling the Holocaust survivors' plan to march an insult to the memory of the Holocaust and using the Holocaust as a political tool. The Holocaust has been used as a political tool for decades, especially by Israel, to mask its own crimes against humanity above all and to continuously paint itself as the victim while despicably utilizing racist laws and policies. That is where the real shame is and the truest insult to the Holocaust.

You get a respectable Swiss paper which publishes a report on the subject of the Holocaust survivors. This in itself is disturbing. Only a few months ago there was news item in the same paper that the funds paid out by the Swiss banks years ago, still have not been allocated in full, as there are apparently no identifiable claimaints. The sum involved is extremely imported. Why does the Israeli government not appear in the American court on behalf of the Holocaust survivors from the Soviet Union and claim the remaining funds in their favour. This would be the purpose for which these funds were paid and would permit to pay a larger sum than the miserly NIS 83.00.

Enough is enough. Now that we're finally rid of that disgusting and arrogant former 'president', this arrogant and disgusting PM should GO. It's about TIME!!!

is about 20 dollars per month. The idea of Olmert spending more per day on cigars is very graphic. Our leadership has lost all sense of proportion and has no idea how the people they purport to represent actually live.

I do not understand what most of the 'survivors' are complaining about. Granted, there are a few (percentage wise) that do not receive reperations from Germany, but, the majority do! Certainly, those who do receive, are getting much more that those who live just on 'Old Age Pension), but the pensioners are not complaining as the 'survivors are. WHY? The march to Jerusalem by the holocaust srrvivors is shameful, and an embarassment to the country.

The 83 shekel monthly increase wouldnt even pay for 1 of Olmerts Cuban cigars.

How does Mr.Olmert dares to look us straight in the eyes by handing out this shameful amount of 83 shekel a month. Hypocrisy by a man,who walks the thin line of befriending wrong people,ap- pointing wrong people in the government,fighting a wrong war . Not daring to stick his neck out for bringing back our 3 soldiers and admitting to his faults.Not understanding that sticking to an ethical behaviour would earn him plusses in his public standing.How can you stand_Mr. Olmert -at Jom Kippur in front of Our Lord and tell him that you did your utmost in working for us in the best possible way.I am thoroughly disgus- ted by you representing the state of Israel towards us as Jews and towards the outside world as a Jewish State,which has and should have high moral values.As a recent Olah(8 years),holo caust child survivor from a West European coun- try,who came out of idealistic zionist longing I am extremely shocked by the downspiraled mentality Iam confronted with in official circles.Ro

The problem is that Olmert has absolutely no shame! He and his cohorts know that they would all be out of jobs if elections were to be held tomorrow.

Mr Herzog, it is this Government's reaction to the needs of the Holcaust survivors that "is an insult to the collective memory of the Holocaust", not their march to demand justice.

Anything that shames this immoral, corrupt, and amoral government into action over the ludicrous and humiliating sums proffered to the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors is justified.

"...Isaac Herzog, who said Sunday that the survivors' planned protest march was an insult to the memory of the Holocaust." Shame on Herzog! These peoples identities are defined by what they endured. They have a right to decide, not Herzog, what is an insult to the memory of the Holocaust and what isn't. Herzog and Olmert and all other government ministers are living high off the hog while holocaust survivors cannot afford the bare necessities.

If only Olmert displayed as much ingenuity when it comes to this country's Holocaust survivors as he does in keeping his unpopular government afloat. I think 83 shekels would probably cover 3 of Olmert's beloved cigars -- per day! He should hang his head in head shame calling this 83 shekel per month stipend a "a righting of a historic wrong."

Olmert doesn't care about Holocaust survivors, or Jews in general. He only cares about himself, and his OWN political agenda of handing Israel over to the Arabs piecemeal. He's a disgrace to Israel, and certainly all HONEST, law abiding Jews can't stand the man. It's time he faced the charges of corruption hanging over his head, and went to jail, like any other common criminal.

Poor survivors are getting abused until the very end. 'Political agendas'? - That's YOU, Mr. Olmert. If there is anyone the State of Israel should support and care for, it is the Survivors of the Holocaust! For Heavens's sakes!

The government decision is so wrong that I would suggest just simply demand to return this money to whoever put it down for the compensation.

The disgusting treatment of these holocaust survivors is now on many international websites and broadcasts. These survivors are the remnants of those that payed the price for the state of Israel to become into being. Now they are being ignored and tossed into the rubbish bin of history. Yet all the time the Zionist media keeps reminding the world about the six million , begging rachmones as an excuse for the war crimes that Israel commits against the Palestinians. If we carry on in this callus manner we will be the arbiter of our own demise.

This all boils down to the extreme insensitivity of Olmert, and to the lack of thorougness in his approach. Did Olmert realize that his immense "generosity" would encompass 83 shekel per person, and what exactly each one was supposed to purchase with that for the betterment of his/her life?! As for the Survivors themselves, one hopes that they will realize the travesty of the ill-advised march that they are planning. It will only boomerang back onto them, while predatory politicians from all sides will exploit their dilemma.

Sad to see that the people who formed the main reason why the Jews finally got their land are being forgotten. maybe someday the people will forget about Israel

Isaac Herzog - your comments bring disgrace on our people. If a divorced woman with a healthy "child support" agreement were to take that money and pamper herself while throwing a few pitas to her children crowded around a single bed in a storage closet, dirty, disheveled and neglected - your "welfare" department would have something to say. But when you do it - it's okay? It's not okay by me. This protest will bring great shame on our nation - true. But if you're looking for someone to blame - gather the "distributors" together with Olmert and your illustrious office. Look together in the mirror and you will see who brought this disgrace on us.

They have NO DECENCY! Even Holocaust Survivors become an enemy as soon as they dare open their moth to criticise the government!

There are people making salaries up to $500,000 a year, there are people flying first class, There are people staying at the King Daivd hotel, there are ministers driving Volvo's to administer this money. What is left for the people who are supposed to receive it. Minister Herzog and all the people who administer this fund should be embarressed. If the fund managers and ministers who mangae them do not use judgement and responsibility, why should potential receipients?