The new budget will increase the Social Affairs Ministry’s budget by a billion shekels to NIS 10 billion. Hundreds of millions of shekels will be added for much-needed welfare programs after Israel has been without a budget for more than three years.
“The significant addition to the budget will allow us to implement many plans that have been waiting for the budget, and to formulate new plans for many populations in need of social services assistance,” said Sigal Moran, director-general of the Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Ministry.
“The coronavirus crisis presented us with the significant challenge of addressing a larger population than the one that received services from us before the crisis.”
Some NIS 105 million will be added to the budget for combating domestic violence, allowing the ministry to construct new dormitories for battered women and men, as well as improving the time needed for it to take on new cases.
Another NIS 100m. will be added to the country’s food security program, allowing tens of thousands of poor households to be added to a pilot program guaranteeing sustenance for needy families.
NIS 230m. will be set aside for renovating welfare dormitories and offices, as well as constructing new ones.
NIS 75m. will be given for people with disabilities, increasing benefit payments for families and providing additional services.
NIS 60m. will be added to develop services for senior citizens to prevent loneliness.
NIS 40m. will be added to programs that protect social workers, and NIS 42m. will be allocated for youth at risk.
NIS 300m. will be allotted for Holocaust survivors, which will provide the country’s estimated 117,000 survivors with an extra NIS 2,500 per year in stipends. Many of the survivors currently live under the poverty line.
In addition, the Finance Ministry and the Construction and Housing Ministry released a plan Monday that will provide new public housing options for needy populations. The plan will include the purchase of 1,700 new apartments for public housing by 2023 and the construction of 3,000 housing units for senior citizens, to be financed with the assistance of the Jewish Agency. At least 200 families will also be eligible for 10-year long-term rental agreements in public housing in four cities under the “Safe Rent” pilot program, which will be implemented by a developer in conjunction with the Housing Ministry.
“I am proud that after years of efforts to replenish the public housing stock in the State of Israel, we have succeeded in bringing a total of 4,700 new housing units in public housing for the weakest people in our society,” said Construction and Housing Minister Ze’ev Elkin. A separate housing plan will be issued in the coming days to address the nation’s housing shortage, a Finance Ministry spokesperson added.