Defense Ministry recognizes Istanbul wounded as terror victims

The Defense Ministry recognizes the Israeli victims of last month’s terror attack in Istanbul as official “victims of hostilities,” granting them and their families special state benefits.

The ministry did not initially recognize the three Israelis killed and 11 injured as entitled to the special terror victims’ benefits, as it was not entirely clear if they had been specifically targeted in the attack for being Israeli or were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But the ministry says in a statement today that it has determined “there is a reasonable basis for the belief that the attack was directed toward Israelis.”

The senior deputy legal adviser to the Defense Ministry, Attorney Yedidya Oron, has therefore ordered that the Istanbul victims be granted the designation.

Those injured in the attack and the families of those were were killed will now receive special tax breaks and a national insurance stipend.

— Judah Ari Gross