Government urged to recognize as orphans those who lost sole living parent on Oct. 7
Law currently grants significant compensation to people of all ages if both parents are victims of hostile act; group says for some 60 people, their only parent was killed by Hamas
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
Representatives of local government and communities close to the Gaza border called Sunday on Defense Minister Israel Katz to amend the law on benefits for casualties of hostile acts to include men and women who lost their sole living parent during the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.
The state provides a variety of benefits for those whose family members are killed by hostile acts. As the law currently stands, anyone under 18 who loses both parents because of hostile acts qualifies for a monthly stipend of NIS 5,862.74 ($1,650). That figure rises to NIS 10,193.54 ($2,870) for anyone over 18.
According to National Insurance Service data, 115 people aged 2 to 60 suffered the loss of both their parents in Hamas’s deadly rampage on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted to the Gaza Strip. Of the 115 who lost both parents, 20 of them were under 18 years old.
According to the Atid LeOtef nonprofit, which was established after October 7, some 60 people from the kibbutzim of Be’eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Re’im, and Ein Hashlosha were orphaned as well, since their only parent was already a widow or widower before being murdered in the Hamas attack.
They approached Atid LaOtef for help, knowing that one of the organization’s activists is Liora Ben Tsur, whose mother Marcelle Taljah was gunned down by a Hamas terrorist at Ein Hashlosha on October 7. Taljah, who lived near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba, was visiting the kibbutz to help out with her grandchildren, as Liora had given birth to a new baby on October 6.
Last May, the Knesset approved a preliminary reading of an amendment proposed by lawmaker Yinon Azoulay to recognize cases such as Ben Tsur’s. A letter Atid LeOtef sent to Katz on Sunday expressed fears that the bill would not advance without government support and asked for the defense minister’s intervention.
Among the letter’s signatories were the heads of the Eshkol and Sha’ar HaNegev regional authorities and the Ofakim city council.
