The Arch of Triumph from Bucharest Romania
The Arch of Triumph from Bucharest RomaniaiStock

Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Social Equality Minister Merav Cohen: Historic Agreement with Romania – Romanian Holocaust Survivors to be Recognized as Eligible for Pensions

Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Social Equality Minister Merav Cohen today have announced a historic agreement between the Holocaust Survivors' Rights Authority and the Romanian national insurance agency, in the framework of which Israeli citizens who are Holocaust survivors will be recognized as eligible for a monthly pension from Romania for persecution during the Holocaust. The agreement is designed – inter alia – to provide for an orderly way to submit appropriate claims.

Prime Minister Lapid said: "As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I am moved by the signing of this important agreement. The State of Israel needs to do everything so that Holocaust survivors may live here in the country with the dignity they deserve. Today we are correcting a longstanding injustice. This is our basic obligation as a society – to see to it that the survivors live out their lives in the best way possible. I thank the Social Equality Minister, my friend Merav Cohen, and everyone who helped."

Social Equality Minister Cohen said: "Not many years remain in which to serve the survivors of the Holocaust; therefore, we are working with a sense of mission and urgency to do everything in our power in order to improve their economic situation, further develop services for them and allow them to grow old with dignity. Last year we finalized agreements with several countries which have brought additional hundreds of millions of shekels that will be transferred to the survivors' accounts. We have also allocated NIS 300 million in the state budget in order to increase support payments for the poorest Holocaust survivors."



:These steps have enabled some Holocaust survivors to increase their monthly incomes by thousands of shekels. We will continue to act with full force on behalf of Holocaust survivors, and the older population in general, in Israel.

"I thank Center for Holocaust Survivors' Organizations in Israel Chairperson Colette Avital, Dan Ezrachi from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli Ambassador to Romania David Saranga and the Romanian Embassy in Israel for their cooperation on behalf of our Holocaust survivors."