The state will compensate business owners for both direct and indirect damage from Operation Protective Edge. Business owners up to seven km from the Gaza Strip border can choose between a tailored red track for each injured party and an expedited green track. Business owners 7-40 km from the Gaza Strip can file a claim on one of four possible tracks, Israel Tax Authority director general Moshe Asher told the Knesset Finance Committee, chaired by MK Nissan Slomiansky.
As outlined by Asher, there are four tracks for filing claims: compensation for salary paid to employees who did not come to work because they had to take care of children up to 14 years old; compensation according to the change in business turnover, compared with the corresponding period; compensation for special expenses; and compensation for damage to agriculture. A person who files a claim will receive an advance of up to 50% of the compensation received in Operation Pillar of Defense while the claims are being adjudicated.
Slomiansky announced during the discussion that two teams would be formed: one to consider compensation for the agricultural sector, chaired by MK Zvulun Kalfa, who asked that MK Yitzhak Vaknin be added to his committee, and one to examine compensation for the tourism sector, chaired by MKs Robert Ilatov and Eliezer Stern.
"The resilience of the home front is what gives the IDF such enormous power. That is why it is so important to strengthen the home front. The home front has been hit hard economically. We have to give it a hand. I congratulate the government for being willing to pay advances already, instead of waiting until the end of the operation. The government copied what was done in previous campaigns: compensation only for those within 40 km of Gaza," Slomiansky said.
He added, "We can all see that this operation is different. We are faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, we have to see whether there are places more than 40 km from Gaza that suffered serious damage and must be given economic relief. On the other hand, if compensation is granted everywhere in Israel, the cost could reach proportions that the country cannot afford. We have to maneuver and be level-headed in order to find the golden mean."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 30, 2014
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