The Finance Minister has instructed the Housing Ministry to
resume rent subsidies for couples during their first three
years of marriage. Grants will be available from the 24th of
Tammuz for those with 1,400 points. Applicants will not have
to undergo entry tests.
The decision was preceded by public activity that included a
promise by the Finance Minister to UTJ that the grants would
be renewed. On 13 Tammuz, Deputy Housing Minister Rabbi Meir
Porush asked the Assistant Director of the Finance Ministry
to press Ministry personnel to speed up issue of the
directive. Mr. Schwartz is in charge of apartment occupancy
in the Ministry.
Barak's government canceled this subsidy at the beginning of
its tenure. The Finance Ministry later promised to renew it,
but it was annulled once again. During the current
Government's coalition negotiations, the UTJ demanded that
its pledge be kept.
Finance Minister Silvan Shalom promised recently that such
aid would be available retroactively from the time of its
revocation a year-and-a-half ago. However on 13 Tammuz
Shalom announced that the grants would be available from the
24th of Tammuz only. Deputy Minister Rabbi Mayer Porush has
asked the Finance Ministry to stand by its pledge for
retroactive approval of the grants.
