The Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee approved on Monday 26
Cheshvan in second and third readings a proposal by MK Rabbi
Moshe Gafni to make Israeli citizens harmed by antisemitism
abroad eligible for compensation payments similar to those
awarded to terror victims.
According to the proposal the State of Israel would deduct
the amount of compensation the victim receives from the
country where the antisemitic incident took place in order to
prevent overlapping compensation.
The proposed law also stipulates that in order to receive
compensation the victim must prove the act was directed
primarily against Jews.
Rabbi Gafni says he estimates that only a single individual
would stand to benefit from the legislation, but Bituach
Leumi officials claim there are about 20 such cases. They say
at least 10 requests of this sort have already been filed,
most of them following the bombing attack at the beis
knesses in Istanbul, but they were rejected because the
existing law does not allow compensation for victims of
antisemitic acts perpetrated abroad.
Rabbi Gafni asked to make the law apply retroactively,
starting in October 2000 when the Intifada began, but later
it was learned that under such circumstances the law would
cost more than NIS 5 million to carry out, and therefore
would require a majority of 50 votes to receive approval in
the Knesset plenum. As a result, Rabbi Gafni agreed to have
the law apply retroactively in terms of recognizing the
victim, but payments would be awarded only from the day the
law is passed in the Knesset.
