Almost a year after the Meron disaster last Lag B’Omer, the Knesset’s Finance Committee on Monday finally approved the transfer of compensation to the families of the victims.

Each family will receive NIS 500,000 ($160,000) and the families who lost two loved ones will receive NIS 1 million.

The members of the committee called for the payment to be expedited and transferred as soon as possible. The advancement of the plan, which was initiated by UTJ MK Yaakov Asher, began in January.

UTJ MK Moshe Gafni responded to the decision by stating: “It should have been done immediately and not waited until now but better late than never. We’ll monitor the process and ensure that all the money will be transferred to the families in the coming days, even before Lag B’omer, without further bureaucracy.”

MK Asher said: “A long and tedious journey ended today with the approval of the compensation plan for the families of the Meron disaster victims…I thank Ministers Gideon Sa’ar and Benny Gantz for helping to advance the outline despite opposition from the Finance Ministry. At the same time, an outline has not yet been approved for the many who were physically and psychologically wounded, as was done for victims of previous national disasters, and we will continue to work on this issue.”

The plan must still receive final approval from the government before the money can be transferred.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)