Israel's Netanyahu Submits Proposal Giving Economic Subsidies of $2,100 to Self-Employed

TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2020) Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tabled a proposal to offer economic subsidies worth up to $2,169 to self-employed people who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus disease pandemic, according to a joint statement published by the prime minister's office and the Finance Ministry on Sunday.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yisrael Katz, today (Sunday, 12 July 2020), submitted for Cabinet approval the decision on assistance grants to the self-employed, to wage earners who hold controlling shares and to businesses that were hurt due to the economic effects of the spread of the coronavirus, up to NIS 7,500 [$2,169]," the statement read.

The economic subsidies will be distributed to those who are in need over the coming days, and further proposals are under consideration to create a system of bimonthly grants for self-employed workers, according to the statement.

Thousands of Israeli citizens staged a protest in the city of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening against the government's handling of the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment in the country has surged past the 20 percent mark amid the epidemiological crisis.

Since the start of the outbreak, 38,213 cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Israel, resulting in 358 deaths. The country's Health Ministry on Sunday morning confirmed 749 new cases of the disease overnight.