MK: Do Something to Lower the Cost of Summer

When the Knesset summer session begins this week, MK David Amsalem (Likud) said that he planned to raise a very summer-y issue for discussion – the high cost of summer for Israeli parents. Summer camps are expensive, and subsidies for poor parents are few, so many children end up, unfortunately, roaming the streets for two months, Amsalem said.

In a social media post, Amsalem said that “the summer camps that were supposed to be a solution for parents and an experience for children have turned into a stumbling block for many families. For hundreds of thousands of children, summer camps are just a dream, because of the cost.”

There is no justification for the high prices, said Amsalem. “The local authorities are not supposed to make money off the citizens, and the community center is not supposed to rake in large amounts. The state must encourage the local authorities to ensure that as many children as possible can attend camp by lowering costs.”

Besides camp, summer is rife with many other expenses, as parents try to keep their children busy. “Summer has become an expensive nightmare for many families,” said Amsalem. “The outlays are endless, and we haven’t even talked about the expenses of getting kids ready for school again. Many parents have begged me to do something to help, and they are right. I intend to raise this issue in the Knesset in the coming days. We must find a solution, and I intend to do everything possible to develop a plan and move it forward.”