Half a year later: Government to establish committee to examine aid to October 7 victims

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced today (Monday) that a public committee would be appointed to form an aid plan for victims of October 7. The founding of the committee comes after discussions held by the Knesset Special Committee for Public Petitions, chaired by MK Yitzhak Pindrus.

The committee will place particular emphasis on making aid to victims easier so they don't encounter bureaucracy. In addition, the committee will map out the different groups of victims and the responses that currently exist for each of them.

The committee will also recommend designated assistance for the victims of October 7, with an emphasis on providing the tools needed for the various groups to rehabilitate and reintegrate into Israeli society as effectively as possible.

The committee will be headed by Professor Aviad Hacohen, President of the Shaarei Mada Vemishpat Academic Center. Other members of the committee will include the Leumit Health Fund Chairman, the National Insurance Institute Director-General, and Hadassah Hospital Director Professor Shlomo Mor Yosef, a senior health economist at the Macabbi health fund, and other representatives of the government and the National Insurance Institute.