It’s the Government’s Duty To Support the Elderly

Ma’ariv, Israel, December 12

With the recent passing of the state budget, I found myself dumbfounded. A little bit of money was given to everyone: soldiers, police officers, interns at hospitals, children, young families, and so on and so forth. Only one group was brushed aside: the senior citizens and the elderly. Those who have built this country and spent their entire lives defending it have been abandoned by the government. There were those among us who were naive enough to hope that the government would increase our pension rates. But those were false hopes. All of those who claim to stand up for the rights of senior citizens simply vanished in the moment of truth. The living conditions of senior citizens, who should be called “honorable citizens,” doesn’t interest the vast majority of elected officials. There isn’t a single party in the Knesset that fights for the rights of this demographic. Perhaps the time has come to resurrect the idea of forming a party dedicated solely to this issue. The coronavirus pandemic forced us to rethink our treatment of the elderly and to do everything we can to protect them from the virus. However, staying alive isn’t enough. We must also ensure that members of this generation don’t have to choose between paying for medication and paying for food. Make no mistake: We’re not greedy and our goal isn’t to squeeze money from the state. All we’re asking for is to live the last years of our lives in dignity, with minimal support from the government. – Yoram Dori (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)