JERUSALEM – Nearly one-quarter of the Holocaust survivors who have settled in Israel live in poverty, according to the annual report released by the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel.

The report, published the week in which Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed, revealed that there are 189,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, 14,000 less than last year due to the high death rates of their generation.

Among the dwindling population of survivors, 45,000 are impoverished and do not have access to medication or medical services, despite recent social policies promoted by the government to improve their situation.

Exactly one year ago, a national plan was launched to assist the survivors, an unprecedented initiative where the government allocated the community 1 billion shekels (more than $250 million) per year for a period of five years.

However, Israeli media continue to document the unimproved conditions of many survivors, while bureaucratic difficulties hinder access to government aid.

About 100,000 of the survivors residing in Israel experienced ghettos and concentration camps personally, while roughly 90,000 fled the genocidal Third Reich.