June 21, 2004
By JPost.com Staff
The Jewish Agency has decided to establish a special fund of 60 million NIS this year to assist lone soldiers and students - those without immediate family members in Israel- who made Aliyah, Ma'ariv reported Monday.
A public committee led by former district court president, Eliyahu Vinogard, together with representatives of the Absorption and Immigration Ministry, the IDF, and the Soldier's Association, determined the necessary criteria for receiving assistance.
Soldiers will receive assistance with rent money throughout their military service as well as for a certain amount of time after being discharged. Students will receive university financing for their fourth year of study, covered by the Student Authority in the Ministry of Absorption and Immigration. Students will also receive assistance for their immediate needs, Ma'ariv reported.
Those eligible for assistance from the fund must have come to Israel alone within the past seven years and be over the age of 16.
Within the next few days The Jewish Agency will start its campaign calling on lone soldiers and students who are making or have made Aliyah to seek financial aid, and the fund will determine how much financial assistance can be allotted to each person.
The chairmen of the agency, Sallai Merridor opened an assembly in Jerusalem with announcements of the establishment of the fund on Sunday, in participation with hundreds of representatives and donators from Jewish organizations throughout the world. "The thousands of young men and women who come to Israel alone without their parents, they are the true heroes of Israeli society for the past few years," Merridor told the paper.