The Knesset rejected a bill to give financial aid to released hostages and the families of slain hostages.
The bill was presented on Wednesday by Blue and White MK Pnina Tameno-Shete.
The project, which proposed granting NIS 4 million to Gaza captivity survivors and families of slain hostages, was rejected by the government’s coalition after receiving 40 votes in favor and 50 against.
“The coalition turned its back on the former hostages and the families of the fallen, rejecting my proposal to remove the stain from us as a society, and to stop the disgrace in which the kidnapped and their families are once again desecrated,” Tameno-Shete said.
“It is not enough that they have been through hell. Now the government refuses to give them the protection and economic security they need in the face of the mental and economic challenges they face,” she added.
“Instead, it leaves them to turn to crowdfunding and rely on the kindness of the public. I will continue to act in every way until the kidnapped and their families receive the full assistance they deserve.”
The Hostages and Missing Families forum expressed deep disappointment over the decision.
“While families are forced to turn to crowdfunding to rebuild their lives, the state chooses to turn its back on them and fails to provide even the most basic support,” the organization said.
The forum said the decision illustrated how the government is shirking its responsibility towards those “who were harmed in the most severe way” in the October 7 attacks when the state “breached its contract with its citizens.”
Ex-Gaza hostage Rom Braslavski says government neglects hostages
The project was initiated after comments by former Gaza hostage Rom Braslavski on November 17, where he assured that he felt neglected by the government and its officials.
“The Defense Ministry, the government, the hostage headquarters, the police, and all the governmental bodies are overwhelmingly neglecting me, screening my calls and writing to me that it’s late,” he wrote.
He also criticized the financial help the government gives to freed Gaza hostages.
“NIS 60,000. That’s the grant that a Hamas captive survivor receives after two years. It’s just a shame, and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu or [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir still haven’t made contact. NOTHING.
“So for everyone who is quick on the keyboard and responds to hostage campaigns with: ‘Why donate to them,’ ‘They’re extortionists,’ ‘Their families are thieves,’ ‘Why donate to them, the state gives them enough,’ well, here I am breaking all your stigmas: The state does not give enough. The Defense Ministry and the state are laughing in our faces.”
According to his post, since returning home, neither Netanyahu nor Ben-Gvir has reached out to him, and he feels only “contempt” from the government.