The Knesset special session on aid to Holocaust survivors has ended without the participation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who declared two weeks ago his aid program removes the "blight" that previous governments left behind by not caring for those who lived through Nazi persecution.
Survivors sharply condemned his aid package, which amounted to less than $35 a month for survivors over 80 years old and even less for younger people. Only one-third of the Knesset Members arrived at the session, and the Prime Minister's office explained he was absent because he is on vacation.
A temporary compromise has been reached with the group representing survivors, but it leaves unsolved the issue of aid for those who succeeded in fleeing Nazi Germany and wandered or hid out during Hitler's regime.