The Cabinet on Sunday 10 Teves 5773 unanimously approved a 9.5 million NIS plan to boost assistance to residents of the south in the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense.

The plan includes – inter alia – solutions for the needs of special populations, the elderly and immigrants. This is in addition to current social budgets for residents of the south.

The assistance plan was formulated by the team of director-generals chaired by Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Harel Locker, which was appointed at the behest of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu immediately after the operation in order to provide an effective and rapid response to the needs of the residents of the south.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “In the south, it is quiet – but we have loose ends to deal with on the home front, with additional grants that we will give to people and communities. By all accounts, the home front was dealt with very successfully in the last operation and later today I will also hold a summary discussion of the home front lessons from Operation Pillar of Defense.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)