Minister of Housing and Construction Uri Ariel approved the establishment of an additional 50 public housing homes for Holocaust survivors in east Talpiot Tuesday, beyond the 1967 Green Line, a step undertaken for the first time in over 10 years.
Ariel made the announcement as he visited Holocaust survivors in a public housing building for the elderly in Jerusalem and expressed his satisfaction with the building which, he said, "gives the feeling of a permanent home and not just a temporary apartment."
"These 50 homes, which will be added to those existing homes for the elderly in east Talpiot, will be earmarked for Holocaust survivors," Ariel said on Voice of Israel public radio, adding that "building will continue in accordance with what the government's policy has been thus far."
There are 701 senior public housing units in Jerusalem in seven different buildings and 207 units in the settlements of Ariel and Ma’aleh Adumim.
In an interview with Channel 10, Ariel stated that the majority of housing construction is planned for the Negev desert and the Galilee region.
"[The government] will build in Judea and Samaria more or less as it has done previously," he said. "I see no reason to change it."
The minister told the personal story of his mother who was the only one in her family to survive Auschwitz and added that as survivors pass away, there is a strong need to make sure that those who are still alive enjoy the best living conditions possible.
"Along with our moral and Jewish obligation to care for them, we will also firmly treat violence against the elderly," he stated. "We will have no future if we do not remember our past and those who worked hard for our right to exist in this country. The Holocaust proved that there is only one place for Jews, here in Israel," Ariel continued.
The Housing Ministry currently operates some 100 senior public housing complexes which include close to 11, 500 units inhabited by about 16,000 elderly people over 65 years old, many of whom are Holocaust survivors. The senior housing buildings provide residents with a variety of different services including medical care, housekeeping, food and leisure.
Residents of such units pay a subsidized rent of eight percent of the income they receive from social security, which amounts to NIS 340 each month for a couple and NIS 230 a month for a senior citizen living alone.