The cost of extending immigrant rights is NIS 15 million. Sharon: Immigration is the real answer to our problems.
Competition for the new immigrant vote has begun. The government today decided to adopt Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposal to extend “absorption basket” eligibility to all new immigrants, regardless of their country of origin.
From now on, new immigrants from wealthy Western countries will also receive the absorption basket.
Sharon said that an effort should be made to increase immigration, including immigration from Western countries. “Immigration is the real answer to our problems,” Sharon stated.
Minister of Housing and Construction Natan Sharansky said the government decision was of “historic” importance.
The basic absorption basket varies from NIS 20,000 to NIS 30,000. The government decision to extend the absorption basket to all new immigrants will cost an estimated NIS 10-15 million annually.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on November 3, 2002