The Israeli government has extended funding for evacuees staying in hotels and in self-arranged housing until February 28, 2025.
The government decided Sunday to approve additional funding for housing Israelis who were forced on October 7-8, 2023, to leave their homes for their own safety, in southern and northern Israel.
Approximately 13,580 evacuees are still housed in hotels and other accommodations funded by the state.
In addition, 54,555 evacuees (of whom about 4,200 are from the south) are currently living in self-arranged housing and receiving a subsistence allowance.
For more than a year, the Israel Ministry of Tourism, headed by Tourism Minister Haim Katz, has been managing the stay of evacuees from the north and south in hundreds of hotels across the country and in thousands of additional accommodations.
To date, the cost of evacuation is estimated at more than NIS 9 billion, of which the Israel Ministry of Tourism has paid approximately NIS 6 billion to hotels and property owners.
The “Katz Initiative” – to allow evacuees who choose to do so to receive a self-housing allowance of NIS 200 per adult per day and NIS 100 per child per day – has saved the state more than NIS 5 billion, according to data released by the government.
The savings resulted from the difference between the rates paid to hotels and the cost of self-arranged housing, according to the Tourism Ministry.
