"The recipients of the allowances will not be harmed until the legislation is completed"
: following the publication in "Israel Hayom", the Knesset plenum discussed today (Wednesday) an urgent proposal for an order of the day, submitted by MK Yanon Azoulai (Shas) on the subject of permanent cancellation of the ban on the payment of double allowances .
During the debate, the Minister of Labor, MK Yoav Ben Tzur, announced that the government is promoting rapid legislation on the matter and that until it is completed, the recipients of the allowances will not be harmed.
"A person who doesn't work has no reason to get up in the morning": MK Yanon Azoulai at the discussion on the continued doubling of allowances // Photo: Knesset Channel
This week it was announced that next week the temporary order allowing the payment of unemployment benefits together with subsistence allowances (maintenance allowance, old age allowance, income supplement allowance and supplementary allowance dependent on the disability allowance) is expected to end.
"The allowances will not be affected until the legislation is completed", MK Yoav Ben Tzur (archive), photo: Yehoshua Yosef
The law, which defines unemployment benefits as an allowance, prohibits paying both unemployment benefits and subsistence allowance to those entitled to it.
Accordingly, in cases where there is a right to a living allowance along with dismissal from work, the state should deduct the lower allowance.
During the Corona period, when tens of thousands of people were laid off from their jobs, and in order to provide a safety net for citizens, the government approved an amendment allowing double the payment of benefits.
The moratorium was extended in December 2021 by former Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and was supposed to expire at the end of 2022, but due to the election period, it was actually extended until next week.
Social organizations warned last year that the curfew was about to expire and harm thousands of people, mainly single mothers, elderly people who go to work because they are not entitled to a pension, and the disabled.
The Minister of Welfare instructed the National Insurance, which has been supporting for several years the promotion of permanent legislation that will resolve the issue, to promote headquarters work and at the end of last week a memorandum of a bill was published regulating the issue and canceling the classification of unemployment benefits as an allowance.
Will unemployment benefits cease to be defined as an allowance?
(for illustration), photo: Yehoshua Yosef
However, since the legislative process takes time, the fear of many people was that income would be seriously affected until the legislation was completed.
Today in the Knesset Plenum, the Minister of Labor announced that the government is promoting a rapid legislative process, which will be completed during the month of March, and will allow continuous payment of the allowances and promised that the allowances will also be paid in February.
Tali Nir, CEO of the 121 association that leads the "Headquarters for Employment Promotion" in which 34 civil society organizations are members, said in response: "Unemployment benefits are not an allowance.
Every person who is fired from his job is entitled to assistance and basic security to get organized and find a new job.
We congratulate the government that finally accepts this moral basis, which is part of the Israeli mutual guarantee.
Thanks to the amendment of the legislation, it will be possible to ensure that those who are laid off from easy allowances will not deteriorate into immediate poverty in the event of a layoff."
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