Knesset approves major aid package for IDF widows and orphans

Benefits include expanded child support, housing and education grants, and a broadened definition of an orphan.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Knesset approved Monday a sweeping financial aid package for IDF widows and orphans, allocating about half a billion shekels in expanded benefits.

Some provisions are retroactive to Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas-led invasion in which about 380 soldiers and other security personnel were killed fighting the terrorists.

These include an additional monthly benefit of NIS 13,500 for widows in the first year of mourning.

Mothers of young children will also be eligible for enhanced child-support grants: NIS 6,000 per month for infants up to three months old, NIS 3,000 up to age three, and NIS 1,500 up to age six.

For widows facing severe financial hardship, monthly assistance will rise sharply — from NIS 1,500 to as much as NIS 10,000.

Additional benefits include scholarships for higher education, expanded housing assistance, and a range of supplementary grants.

The legislation also significantly broadens the definition of an IDF orphan. Previously, benefits ended at age 21; now they will be able to receive benefits such as special housing, car and education grants up to age 40.

They will also receive monthly stipends of NIS 3,650 from age 21 to 30, which decreases to an extra NIS 2,000 from age 30 to 40.

Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz, a co-sponsor of the bill alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, hailed the vote as “a huge achievement that does justice to the families.”

“Those who sent their loved ones to defend the country should know that the country will protect them in return,” he said.

Calling the legislation “historic,” Israel Katz said it translates Israel’s “deep ethical commitment into clear action.”

“In the face of the heavy price paid by the bereaved families, the State of Israel has a moral and national obligation to do the maximum possible, and not settle for the minimum required,” he added.

Attorney Zehava Gross-Meydan, chairwoman of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, welcomed the expanded benefits, noting that her group had lobbied for them for years.

The law “reflects an understanding that coping with loss is an ongoing process,” she said.

At the same time, Gross-Meydan said her organization would continue to push for “an equal, fair and inclusive system of rights—for every orphan, at every age.”