Holocaust survivors to get 50% off their electricity bills
By SHARON WROBEL
Photo by: Courtesy
Steinitz: “The services the government provides to Holocaust survivors have improved significantly over the past year.”
Holocaust survivors will receive a 50-percent discount on their electricity bills in an effort to improve their living conditions, the Finance Ministry announced Thursday.
“The services the government provides to Holocaust survivors have improved significantly over the past year,” Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said while visiting the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors on Thursday in Tel Aviv. “It took great efforts to get the transfer of more than NIS 50 million for the increase in monthly benefits of Holocaust survivors to be approved before the start of the Tishrei. I hope that the discount in monthly electricity bills will help assist Holocaust survivors before the High Holy Days.”
Steinitz, who was accompanied by Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen, signed a directive that will entitle 30,000 needy Holocaust survivors to receive a 50% discount on their monthly electricity bills for up to 400 kilowatts per hour.
“Holocaust survivors have suffered enough, and the government needs to do everything in its power to improve its assistance and services,” Cohen said.
Some 90,000 Holocaust survivors are being assisted by the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors, executive director Ofra Ross said.
On Tuesday, the Knesset Finance Committee approved an increase in benefits for Holocaust survivors retroactively to October 2009.
Their monthly living allowance of NIS 1,000 will be raised by NIS 60 to NIS 120. In addition, they will receive a one-time payment of NIS 750 to NIS 1,300 on September 1.
Some 20,000 needy Holocaust survivors, including widows, will receive the added payments.
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