Finance Minister Dr. Yuval Steinitz has approved an addition of NIS 30 million to stipends that will be paid to Holocaust survivors between the months of January and April.
The payments will go to about 20,000 Holocaust survivors who receive aid from the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority in the Finance Ministry.
The additions to individual stipends will total between NIS 640 and NIS 1580, according to the degree of the survivor's disability. The payment for March will be moved up to March 26, so that the survivors receive it on the eve of the Passover holiday.
Committee report implemented
In addition, it was decided that the monthly stipend for Holocaust survivors will be updated twice a year from now on, in April and October, instead of just once in May.
The Finance Ministry decided upon the improvements together with representatives of the Holocaust Survivors' Organization, as part of the final implementation of the report by the Official State Committee of Investigation on the Matter of Aid to Holocaust Survivors.
Minister Steinitz said: “We are committed to the ongoing improvement of the service given to Holocaust survivors. Besides the one-time, grant we created an updating mechanism that is more proper and fair. This is a step that is meant to strengthen the weak layers [of society], and it comes in addition to the important steps that this government has taken in the past.”