“The development was the result of an agreement inked by Israel and Romania and is expected to provide approximately 7,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel with hundreds of additional shekels a month, according to the Center Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, a non-governmental umbrella body that represents 55 similarly-focused groups.
The Center Organizations began negotiations with the Romanian government approximately six years ago after Bucharest passed a law recognizing citizens who left after World War II as eligible for pensions.”
The entire article is at the Times of Israel.
In 2016, Bucharest passed a law that recognized citizens who left the country after WWII as eligible for pensions. However, from the end of the war until the passage of the law, Romanians who left the country lost citizenship and their right to pensions. On Monday, negotiations cleared the way for the Romanian government to finally accept official Israeli documentation for eligibility.
Amb. Colette Avital issued the following statement:
“As the lead negotiator for the State of Israel, I am very pleased that we were able to resolve the red tape that was holding up this agreement. This process has been very long with considerable challenges. This agreement is especially significant for me as I am a Holocaust survivor from Romania, and I welcome it on behalf of all Romanian survivors living in Israel. It is our moral obligation that we do everything we can so that Holocaust survivors live their lives with the dignity they deserve. Providing funds for survivors so that they can have a quality of life has always been a top priority of mine. These payments will complement the World Jewish Restitution Organization’s (WJRO) own efforts and we will continue to explore more opportunities wherever we can.”
