A Knesset Bill Would Significantly Reduce the Cost of Burial Plots in Israel for Holocaust Survivors

MK Erez Malul (Shas) has introduced a new Knesset measure that would provide Holocaust survivors who want to buy burial sites in Israel a sizable discount.

According to the new bill, the cost of a burial site for Holocaust survivors cannot be more than 50% of what non-survivors would pay.

The plan was well received by the Religious Affairs Ministry, which oversees the many Chevra Kadisha organizations in Israel.

According to Minister Michael Malkieli, the program sends a crucial message at a time when we are remembering the Holocaust.

According to a survey by the Knesset research department, Israel presently has 150,600 Holocaust survivors, an average age of 87.5 years old. Over 80% of Holocaust survivors are compelled to give up goods and services they need owing to financial hardships, and a quarter of them live below the poverty level.

It will be much easier for them to be buried where they want if there is a discount on burial grounds.

The measure further said that doing so would be symbolic of honoring the survivors of the Holocaust who made significant contributions to the development and prosperity of Israel.

We must make every effort to preserve the memory of the Holocaust victims and to protect the honor and welfare of the survivors who are still living today, according to MK Erez Malul.

The survivors are among the state’s founders, and they have made an immeasurable contribution to its development.

The head of the Holocaust Survivors organizations in Israel, Colette Avital, expressed her excitement about the bill and noted that “the Holocaust survivors are paragons of Israeli society and the state must revere their actions and to support them in every way possible in order to ensure their economic future in the years left for them to live.”