It turns out: through our hard work of developing computer systems adapted to grants and despite the delays in legislation - the National Insurance will be able to transfer payments to all those eligible for grants before the Passover holiday.
In recent months, a number of headlines have emerged regarding various grants to economically damaged populations due to the ongoing fighting. The legislative amendments were advanced at different times in accordance with government decisions and after the vote in the Knesset committees and in the plenum, the computerized developments for each grant began and the different conditions for each grant were determined according to each population, size of family, eligibility conditions, etc.
Grant in lieu of unemployment benefits
The law was finally passed less than a month ago (on March 17, excluding publication in the records and so forth). By law are eligible Israeli residents who were evicted from their homes in the north, whose residence address in the Population and Immigration Authority is registered in one of these settlements and who meet the following conditions determined by the government:
- First condition: Receipt of unemployment benefits at least in one month from October to December 2023, and utilization of all unemployment days due under the law.
- Second condition: Receipt of unemployment benefits in at least one month from October to December 2023, and the end of the unemployment year, which ended or will end by 31/8/24.
- Third condition: submitting a claim for unemployment benefits from 1/1/24 onwards and utilizing the quota of days of eligibility for unemployment in cases of repeat unemployment (a person who has been unemployed in the past 4 years).
The grant amount will be paid according to the number of days in the month in which the eligible person did not work, and will be calculated according to the unemployment benefit paid to him previously.
The eligibility period is for the months of January to August 2024 depending on the place of residence. Regarding the settlements for which the government decided to allow residents to return to their homes (such as Sderot), the grant will be paid by 31/3/24.
According to National Insurance data, there are about 2,500 evacuees who are on prolonged unemployment, who have been sent SMS messages for the purpose of reporting employment status and more than 90% of those eligible have updated their situation. Those who did not respond to the National Insurance, the National Insurance employees initiated phone calls to verify eligibility and will continue to do so for the sake of rights take-up.
The amounts for each eligible person, their conditions of entitlement and the adjusted amount according to their salary will be automatically transferred to their bank account this week, before the Passover holiday.
Special grant for evacuees aged 67 and over
The law was finally passed less than a month ago (on March 17, excluding publication in the records and so forth). By law are entitled evacuees aged 67 and above whose residential address is in one of the evacuated settlements that qualify for the grant.
- First condition: If they received a special grant for people aged 67+ in one month from October to December 2023 and is not working.
- Second condition: If they worked as employees for at least 3 consecutive months as of January 2024 and were dismissed or put on unpaid leave for at least 30 days.
- Third condition: they received unemployment benefits in October 2023 onwards, and the unemployment payment was discontinued because they have reached the age of 67.
The eligibility period is from January to August 2024, depending on the place of residence. Regarding the settlements for which the government decided to allow residents to return to their homes (such as Sderot), the grant will be paid by 31/3/24.
The amount of the grant will be 75% of the average wages in the last 3 out of the 6 months preceding the work stoppage – according to the higher wage among them, but not exceeding NIS 134 per day, as stipulated in the government decision.
According to the National Insurance, there are only about 200 beneficiaries, and the National Insurance has also established computer systems adapted to this grant, which is different from any other grant or allowance, and the payment will be automatically transferred to the beneficiaries' bank accounts this week, before the Passover holiday.
Return grant per day
The law passed a week after the beginning of this month, on April 7th, that is: 8 days after the legislation, counting 6 working days only!
The grant is intended for those who returned home during the period from 1/1/24 to 29/2/24. Are eligible to the grant the settlements whose residents were allowed, by government decision, to return to gradually and who did not stay in a state-funded place of accommodation during this period.
Entitlement to the grant is on a daily basis, for each day in which the conditions of entitlement are met, thereby an adult is entitled to NIS 200 per day and a child (up to the age of 18) – NIS 100 per day.
According to National Insurance data, there are about 4,000 statements by eligible persons who reported returning to their homes on these dates.
As mentioned, although the law passed only a few days ago, the computer systems that produce systems of declaration + payment for each family according their composition and the date of return will automatically transfer the payment to the bank account of those entitled, before Passover.
One-time return grant
The law passed a week after the beginning of this month, on April 7th, that is: 8 days after the legislation, counting 6 working days only!
The one-time grant is intended for those who have discontinued their stay at a state-funded accommodation during the period from 1/3/24 to 1/6/24.
People eligible for the grant are Israeli residents who have been evacuated from their homes, and its amount is determined according to the ending date of the stay at the state-funded accommodation and the number of children for whom child allowance is paid.
Those who did not stay in a hotel – will be entitled to a grant if they were entitled to a daily return grant or an occupancy grant, and the amount of the grant will amount to NIS 15,360 for an adult and NIS 7,680 for a child.
For those who ended their stay at a hotel – the amount of the grant will be determined by the date on which they stopped their stay at the hotel, as determined by the government decision:
- Until 17/3 – NIS 15,360 for an adult and NIS 7,680 for a child up to the age of 18.
- From 18/3/24 to 1/4/24 – NIS 7,680 per adult and NIS 3,840 per child up to the age of 18.
- From 2/4/24 to 1/5/24 – NIS 3,840 per adult and NIS 1,920 per child up to the age of 18.
- From 2/5/24 to 1/6/24 – NIS 1,920 per adult and NIS 960 per child up to the age of 18.
For this grant as well, the National Insurance was able to develop declaration and payment systems in just a few days, and the payment will be automatically transferred to those eligible before the Passover holiday.
- Yoav Ben Tzur, Minister of Labor: "I am proud and happy that the National Insurance Institute succeeded in meeting the goal we set, which is payment to all those eligible in the evacuated settlements before the Passover holiday. We know we are facing extraordinary complexity and difficulty, but if there is anything we can do to help – we'll be there. This is a public mission and we will continue to do so."
- Zvika Cohen, Acting Director General of the National Insurance Institute: "National Insurance employees are an inseparable part of the community and residents of Israel, we also have many evacuated workers, some of whom lost their loved ones in the war and live in missile-targeted cities throughout the country. We wake up every morning with a sense of mission and it was clear to all of us that although the legislation passed a short time ago, we would do everything in our power to transfer the payment, for all four new grants, even before Passover – and happily we were able to do so. I am proud to head an organization that despite the challenges manages to meet complex tasks and computer development and short term payments that even the business sector cannot afford. This is our goal and this is the policy of the National Insurance Institute."