From the Liveblog of
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Government okays $2.5 billion multi-stage plan of wartime assistance for IDF reservists
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Three months into Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the cabinet approves a NIS 9 billion plan ($2.5 billion) wartime assistance program for IDF reserve soldiers, following claims that the state is neglecting the 360,000 Israelis who were called up for reserve duty in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 onslaught
The package expands the existing financial assistance available for reserve soldiers and their partners, with a special compensation track for self-employed reservists who lost their incomes while serving in the army over the past three months.
“The reservists will receive the money without delay,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares, announcing the program’s first tranche of NIS 1.5 billion ($400 million), followed by two additional phases that will come after the government approves the state budget for 2024.
“The program includes grants, discounts and benefits for reservists as well as their family members — spouses as well as children, and self-employed reservists,” Netanyahu says, adding that he “instructed the finance minister and the defense minister not to wait for the budget to be passed” but to find ready sources of funds immediately.
The Times of Israel Community.