Grants for evacuees set to expire in August as gov't fails to renew - NII

Laws that enable the National Insurance Institute to pay unemployment wages to evacuees from the North and South are set to expire at the end of August and, despite requests by the institute, the Finance Ministry has not extended the eligibility for these grants, the NII said Sunday.

Housing grants paid to evacuees who are not staying in government accommodations are also set to expire at the end of the month, the NII added, saying that in order to continue to provide these a government decision must be passed.

The two grants go to residents of 12 towns in southern Israel, including Ein Hashlosha, Be’eri, Kissufim, and Nahal Oz, and to 43 towns in northern Israel, including Metulla, Shlomi, Kiryat Shmona, and others.

Over 5,000 citizens were beneficiaries of the unemployment grants in July, which totaled NIS 80 million. Grants for August will be sent out in September; this is the last approved grant installment, the NII said.

Retroactive grants too slow for desperate families

Some 1,200 evacuees from the South received housing grants in July amounting to a total of NIS 6.4 million worth of grants. Some 43,000 evacuees from the North received grants for a total of NIS 226 million.

The Finance Ministry has been criticized for being slow to get grants to Israelis harmed by the war and for failing to provide help to those not defined as evacuees.

Inbar Bezek, former MK and current CEO of the Galilee Economic Company said in June that many grants are given retroactively a few months later, leaving people unable to cover the costs of the current month.