The director general of the Prime Minister's Office announced last week a decision to extend social and health assistance to those fleeing the war in Ukraine until the end of the year. The decision was made following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s directive and in consultation with Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich. According to the Prime Minister's Office, the monthly cost of continuing the support is estimated at 10 million shekels ($2.7 million).
The announcement came after health and refugee aid organizations petitioned Israel's High Court of Justice last Monday against the government's decision to stop funding medical care for Ukrainians who had come to Israel to flee the war.
After the government decided to end the support, Physicians for Human Rights and the organizations participating in the petition received dozens of calls from Ukrainians in Israel whose urgent medical care had been interrupted, including cancer patients, kidney failure patients on dialysis, and diabetics.
The petitioners’ statement read, in part: “Ukrainian citizens who managed to escape the horror of the war are staying here lawfully and are protected from deportation. The state of Israel absorbed a small number of war escapees, but recognized its obligation to give everyone access to health care. The termination of these services in one fell swoop constitutes an extreme policy change that constitutes a cruel violation of basic fundamental rights while ignoring the rules of administrative law.”
Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Reuven Azman hailed the decision. "I congratulate my friend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and my friend Mr. Yossi Shelley, Director General of the Prime Minister's Office, on the welcome decision to extend social and health assistance to those fleeing the war from Ukraine until the end of the year,” he said. "This is an important and necessary humanitarian action for those who fled the war in Ukraine. I call on the Israeli government not to wait until the end of the year, and to formulate a solution now for refugees for 2024."
This article was translated from Hebrew by Benji Sharp.
