Two hours of standing in the cold and the rain, that’s the amount of time Omer Amsalem had to wait last night, here from Operation Protective Edge, outside the Ministry of Defense in Haifa. Amsalem, who was not included in the scope of the ministry, was supposed to receive his car allowance, which he says is used for getting around in the most basic way and he is entitled to it.
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According to him, “I am supposed to get my mobility, my legs. They said they gave 80 percent of the cost of the car and they didn’t, and for the other 20 percent they are now making a mess of me because I was insolvent. What I work here is abuse, and I intend to stay here Until I get what I deserve, I’ll stay here, even if it rains and hails on me.”
“Those who sent me to battle are actually now humiliating me”
“I’ve been selling at the Ministry of Defense for six months, with a permanent 50 percent disability. I think I deserve 100 percent, but I don’t get it. The feelings I get when I return home after trying again and again are feelings of humiliation, the greatest humiliation that exists. Those who sent me They are actually humiliating me now,” he says painfully. “Yesterday there was a suicide fight, no one brought it up. I told them now, what situation do you want to bring us to?”.
Amsalem is holding on, he is married and the father of a son and according to him they are the ones who strengthen his desire not to break. “My wife takes the child to daycare on buses and goes to work on buses, so you have no choice but to fight for your rights. And I call them and they say they have no answers for me, ‘Calm down, you don’t have to be upset’ they tell me all the time. Why do we have to fight for What we deserve by force.”
The policewoman who was called understood his distress
This story has a relatively good ending. Amsalem, who was on a special holiday on Shabbat with his family, who had organized a battle for the “Benfeshnu” department, received during the Shabbat encouragement and support from the members of the department to come and stand up for himself, and they even made sure to put him on the live broadcast on the Hivbarot channel with host Gil Sassover outside the Ministry of Defense so that he could make his voice and difficulties known. “Akiva ben David, a representative in our souls, took care of me personally,” he says.
In response to the well-publicized protest, the official at the Ministry of Defense decided to order a police car to remove Amsalem from the scene, but the policewoman who arrived at the scene also understood Omar’s plight and did not allow him to be taken out of the compound. In the end, after two hours of waiting, Amsalem was admitted to the meeting and immediately received the amount of money he was due from the Ministry of Defense in exchange for the mobility fees. Now we are trying to help Amsalem “with our soul” to complete the remaining 20 percent.
Many like Omar are waiting for help, as offered by the “Bnefshenu” department of the Hidbarot organization, which these days launched a special campaign to raise funds for the upgrade of the department. One of the activities that the department does is special Sabbaths for war casualties and their families. Amsalam recently participated in such a Sabbath with family members after not leaving the house for a long time. “First of all I thank you, it is not obvious that you made me leave the house. It really was a perfect Saturday, you can see that someone in this country cared about the battle. You gave us your soul and it really is not obvious.”