Angry Holocaust Survivors Protest Israeli Government's Offer of $20 Stipends
Israelis march during a demonstration next to the Knesset, Israel's Parliament in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. Holocaust survivors and advocates marched in front of the Israeli Parliament building Sunday, calling on the government to increase stipends for the state's 240,000 Holocaust survivors, many of whom suffer from economic and health problems. Hebrew signs read "Holocaust and Shame".Holocaust survivors in Israel demanded Sunday that the Jewish state raise what they consider a laughable new offer of $20 monthly stipends.
At least 500 of the elderly survivors and supporters rallied outside parliament, carrying placards and wearing stickers reading "The Holocaust is still here" and "Forgive us for surviving."
"The government of Israel has not recognized us. We don't belong to them," said Josef Charney, 82, who survived the Treblinka death camp.
Six decades after World War II and the Nazi killings of 6 million Jews, about 240,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel. Many have long complained that Israel does not do enough to support them, and that they lack money for basics, sometimes even food. Some have said European countries treat them far better.
Last week, the government announced $28 million in new stipends for 120,000 needy survivors about half of them now in Israel. That works out to just 83 shekels or $20 a month for each survivor.
Existing Holocaust survivor benefits are calculated by complex regulations depending on country of origin, where claimants were during the war, when they arrived in Israel, whether they received German government reparations and other criteria. The benefits come on top of state pensions and government health care available to all elderly Israelis.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the $20 supplement was a stopgap while the needs of the survivors are carefully analyzed, but many have deemed the measure an insult.
"We don't think that 83 shekels a month is enough," said Gal Rotem of the Holocaust Survivors' Welfare Fund, which helped organize the march. "You can't buy food or drugs or anything else with 83 shekels."
She noted the group was not growing, saying an average of 35 survivors die each day in Israel.
At Sunday's weekly Cabinet meeting, Olmert said the issue was "sensitive and painful" and acknowledged that previous governments had failed to address it. He said he would meet Wednesday with survivors' groups and government ministries to find the "best, fairest and most just solution," according to a statement from his office.