The Knesset has approved the final readings of a bill to put nursing-home insurance in the national "basket" of subsidized health care.
Chairman Dov Khenin of the Knesset Public Health Lobby initiated the special session at the end of which the decision was reached. He said, "Tonight we have put an end to abandonment of the elderly in Israel. The right to grow old with dignity is a basic right that the state must guarantee to every citizen of Israel. This important decision will put an end to the harsh images that have come from homes for the elderly throughout the country in recent months."