Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz, Finance Minister Israel Katz and Economy Minister Amir Peretz approved the NIS 6 billion "Check for All" program on Monday.
Blue and White’s position to modify it in favor of helping the weaker members of Israeli society was accepted and NIS 500 million will be provided for the needy, The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv reported on Monday.
Offering grants to almost all Israelis in an attempt to get “the wheels of the economy spinning again,” as Netanyahu said last week, the program is to be presented to the government and Knesset for final approval on Tuesday.
The cabinet agreed that NIS 750 will be added to the benefits currently offered to the disabled, those on welfare, the elderly, unemployed people over the age of 67, and Jewish immigrants (olim). About 800,000 people will be given this grant.
In addition, it was decided that state officials earning more than NIS 30,000 per month will not get it, as well as people who earn more than NIS 640,000 per year. In the original plan, grants were meant to be given to everyone, rich and poor alike.
Peretz said: “It's very important that the message will be that the weaker groups in society are first [in the government's] priority list at this time.”
On Sunday evening, Katz tweeted his support of giving single adults NIS 750 as part of the “Check for All” program, saying that not doing so will be unfair to out-of-service IDF soldiers and students “who benefit Israel’s strength and economy.”
The “Check for All” plan was heavily criticized by the Finance Ministry, with Budget Department head Shaul Meridor telling Netanyahu that “this will turn us into Venezuela.” Meridor was slammed on social media by Likud MKs for his alleged “sabotage” of government policy.
Netanyahu argued that it’s necessary to give benefits to all citizens to bypass two hurdles: the need to build a system for Israelis to apply for these grants, and to adopt criteria to determine who gets how much.
Netanyahu has said that the coronavirus crisis calls for quick action, blaming bureaucracy, the Finance Ministry and the Knesset for taking too long to approve measures.
His critics argue that the “Check for All" program, presented during a time of mass protests across the country calling on Netanyahu to let someone else handle the COVID-19 emergency, is an attempt to quell public outrage with money.