The Knesset Finance Committee awarded one million shekel ($264,782) to Holocaust survivors Tuesday, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The funds, which were from a 2015 budget surplus, were transferred after Committee members withdrew their opposition to a request from MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid), who chairs the Lobby for Holocaust survivors.
Stern said that he was “happy that the funds will be transferred before Holocaust Remembrance Day” and that Holocaust survivors’ well-being should be top priority.
45,000 Holocaust survivors live in poverty and 60% are worried about their finances, a study published earlier Tuesday revealed – a fact compounded by Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute) benefits not reaching the cost of living.
Moreover, a Haaretz report last month revealed that thousands of survivors have never received those benefits at all.
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