Yesh Atid MK proposes giving fresh IDF veterans early access to release grants

Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah proposes giving recently released soldiers immediate access to a grant that they normally have to wait up to five years to receive, in a bid to ease the economic hardships of the coronavirus pandemic.

When soldiers are released from the military, they are given an immediate sum of cash, as well as a larger grant — known in Hebrew as a pikadon — that they can only access to pay for school or vocational training, to open a business, after getting married, to buy a home or after five years.

Shelah proposes changing the laws to give recently released troops immediate access to up to NIS 10,000 of this fund through the end of the year.

“A recently released soldier would be allowed to receive a sum of money from this fund, less than NIS 10,000, to deal with coronavirus crisis,” Shelah says.

The MK says the Defense Ministry has already signed off on the proposal and that the Finance Ministry is reviewing it today.