In December, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon decided that Jews from Algeria, Morocco and Iraq, who suffered persecution at the hands of the Nazi regime, would be eligible for a financial grant and a full exemption when purchasing medications. While Kahlon’s decision did not receive extensive media coverage, it still has enormous social implications. It expands the circle of victims of Nazism to include groups of Jews from Arab countries, who were marginalized until very recently. They spent years fighting the state for recognition of their status as victims.
This one-time grant of 3,600 Israeli shekels ($950) may not be a lot of money, but it restores this group to its rightful place, after being excluded for so long from the collective Holocaust memory. These Jews were also victims of the Holocaust, just like the Jews of Europe.
