Representatives of Holocaust survivors in Israel hammered out a partial agreement with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday regarding the level of assistance the state will extend to survivors of the Nazi-led genocide. At a long-awaited meeting, the Prime Minister agreed that death camp survivors who do not currently receive a monthly stipend will be eligible for an average of NIS 1,200 (less than $300) a month. This amount will be added to their pension and welfare payments, ensuring that none of these pensioners will receive less than NIS 3,400 a month.
However, no agreement has yet been reached regarding survivors who were not liberated from the concentration camps themselves. These victims of the Nazi era have been referred to as the "second circle" of Holocaust survivors. 85,000 of the 150,000 people in the second circle immigrated to Israel in recent years.
Olmert and the survivors' representatives agreed to reach an agreement regarding the "second circle" before the start of the upcoming High Holidays in September.
The newly agreed-upon stipend for camp survivors will be paid out beginning in October 2007. If the government of Germany does not take responsibility for payments to this group within two years, then Israel will increase the monthly stipend to NIS 1,600. This is approximately the equivalent in shekels of what Germany currently pays to concentration camp survivors overseas.
The government also agreed to pass a law formally recognizing the Center for Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel. The law's enactment will make the Center eligible for government funding and give it official standing. The Prime Minister also agreed to immediately allocate NIS 16 million to the Center and to other organizations offering support to Holocaust survivors. In addition to the financial concerns of the elderly Holocaust survivors, the government and survivors' representatives agreed on the establishment of a state-supported information and assistance center.
A joint committee, including survivors and government officials, will be established to oversee implementation of the agreements reached on Sunday.
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Olmert boasted that his government was the first to remove the "stain" of ignoring needy Holocaust survivors. He originally proposed assisting survivors under the age of 70 with 83 shekels ($20) a month. A group representing survivors responded by staging what they called "a March of the Living," named after a trip taken by Jewish high 
The Finance Ministry did not fund the principal department... for Holocaust survivors.
school students to the remains of Nazi death camps in Poland. The march fed into a demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Office, where they called the offer another blot on the government record.
A report by State Comptroller and Ombudsman Micha Lindenstrauss, submitted last Wednesday, charged that the government has mismanaged funds slated for Holocaust survivors. The report revealed that the Finance Ministry did not fund the principal department designated to coordinate activities for Holocaust survivors.
"The conduct of local authorities is characterized many times by unnecessary delays, procrastination and foot dragging," the Ombudsman's report stated. Despite reparation payments by Germany and financial support from the Israeli government, 143,000 survivors are not eligible for support and approximately 80,000 live in poverty, according to statistics singled out in the report.
Former Justice Lindenstrauss concluded, "Any delays and foot dragging in dealing with these elderly people will hover over the conscience of the state."