Defense Ministry says proposed budget will harm wounded soldiers, families of fallen troops

The proposed 2025 state budget currently being debated by the government will harm wounded soldiers and the families of the fallen, the Defense Ministry says.

In a scathing public critique, the ministry states that it opposes “opposes any violation of the rights of the IDF wounded and members of the bereaved families, certainly in a time of war and in a year when, unfortunately, the circle of those affected has painfully expanded.”

While the Defense Ministry’s overall budget is set to be increased under the new budget, cuts to the National Insurance Institute would result in freezing payments for bereaved families at the current rate, meaning they will not be adjusted for inflation.

The ministry adds that it expressed its opposition to the Finance Ministry and “we hope that the decision will be shelved. This is not the time to hurt those who paid the heaviest price for the security of the country.”

According to the Ynet news site, Eli Ben-Shem, the chairman of the Yad Labanim organization representing bereaved families, wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Smotrich to protest the move.

He notes that “since the brutal attack on the State of Israel on the Black Sabbath of October 7, about 1,800 bereaved parents and about 2,750 bereaved siblings have joined the circle of bereavement.”

“During these difficult days when the State of Israel is in the middle of a war and the bereaved families carry in their hearts the pain of the loss of their loved ones who fell in defense of the homeland, we are dumbfounded and shocked by the government’s decision to freeze the benefits of the bereaved families,” he states.