Health benefits for 14,000 Ukrainian refugees frozen due to lack of funds, gov’t says
High Court plans debate on matter next week, doesn’t order state to resume halted services; Finance Ministry said refusing to transfer required funds to ministries
The government said Thursday it has been unable to renew health insurance and social assistance benefits for Ukrainian refugees due to a lack of funding, in response to a High Court petition on the matter.
Justice Ofer Groskopf scheduled a hearing on the issue next week, but did not order the state to resume treatments halted due to the budget shortfall.
“Despite efforts that have been made, as of the time of writing, a source of funds has not been found and the necessary budgets have not yet been completed in order to continue to provide health assistance to Ukrainian citizens, including providing an immediate solution to medical treatments that have already been scheduled or started,” representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office and Finance Ministry told the court in their response.
The government told the court a solution to the matter would be found “as soon as possible” by “relevant parties.”
Last week, the government said it would extend health insurance and social assistance benefits for some 14,000 Ukrainian refugees until at least the end of this year, after a two-week lapse.
But Haaretz reported Wednesday that the health, welfare, and interior ministries were refusing to provide services to the refugees until they receive their full budget for the rest of the year from the Finance Ministry, totaling NIS 40 million ($11 million).
“At the government discussion held by the Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office last week, an outline was created for the resumption of health insurance for the Ukrainian refugees as well as its funding. The Finance Ministry is working in accordance with those conclusions,” the Finance Ministry said in response to the report.
“In a week the finance minister wants to allocate NIS 700 million to Judea and Samaria, he could have found NIS 40 million for the benefit of refugees,” a source within the ministries was quoted as saying, referencing funding plans by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for West Bank settlements that were reportedly frozen this week.
As part of a bilateral deal, Ukrainians without a visa can enter Israel and visit for up to three months. Due to the ongoing war, Israel has extended the visas of non-Jewish refugees after a cap limiting their entry was struck down by the High Court of Justice. Those with Jewish roots have automatic rights to become citizens under Israel’s Law of Return.
Ukrainian officials have repeated criticism of Israel throughout the war over its treatment of Ukrainian visitors.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk over the weekend threatened to close the country’s borders to Israeli pilgrims making their way to the city of Uman for the annual Rosh Hashanah festivities next month to retaliate for Israel deporting Ukrainian tourists.
Jerusalem reportedly dismissed it as a baseless threat.
Ukraine has also urged Jerusalem to supply it with defensive weaponry throughout the war, and particularly missile interceptor capabilities, but Jerusalem has so far refused, as Israeli leaders seek to avoid overly antagonizing Russia. The hesitance appears largely linked to Israel’s strategic need to maintain freedom of operations in Syria, where Russian forces largely control the airspace. Israel is one of the few countries that maintains relatively good relations with both Ukraine and Russia.
Jerusalem has, however, been working with Ukraine on the introduction of advanced early warning systems to sound an alert of incoming Russian strikes as part of a pilot program that Kyiv hopes to eventually expand to the entire country.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.