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Itongadol.- Some 20,000 Holocaust survivors did not realize their rights, totaling over 100 million shekels, Welfare Minister Haim Katz (Likud) revealed at a press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
According to the Welfare Ministry there are currently 194,468 survivors living in Israel, of which 6,919 are over 100 years-old and 21,794 are over 90 years-old.
Of the Holocaust survivors, 65,134 receive care assistance benefits.
According to the welfare minister, upon entering office, he was surpirsed to learn that the Welfare Ministry had no data on survivors
He approached the Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority to request its numbers on survivors and was surprised to learn that the statistics were unavailable to him due to privacy laws.
Only after a lengthy battle, which saw the appointment of a committee to examine his request and the enlistment of Attorney-General Avihai Mandelblit, was the Welfare Ministry granted the data.
In an exchange of texts betwen Katz and Mandelblit spanning two weeks, which the welfare minister read to reporters at the press conference, he wrote, "How many more people have to die until I get approval to help."
The welfare minister said upon receipt of the data the Welfare Ministry, in collaboration with the National Insurance Institute were able to formulate a NIS 128 million plan to help the Holocaust surviors realize their rights.