An American philanthropist has allegedly violated Israel Defense Forces rules by giving direct grants of $5,000 to haredi soldiers in the Netzach Yehuda battalion while ignoring non-haredi soldiers in the rest of the Kfir Brigade.
Haredi Soldiers Get Illegal $5,000 Grant While Secular And Zionist Orthodox Soldiers Get Nothing
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
An American philanthropist has allegedly violated Israel Defense Forces rules by giving direct grants of $5,000 to haredi soldiers in the Netzach Yehuda Battalion while ignoring non-haredi soldiers in the rest of the Kfir Brigade, The Jewish Press reports based on a report first published by the Israeli news website Walla. The money should have gone to the IDF’s Association for the Wellbeing of Israeli Soldiers or the LIBI Fund. The IDF’s Office of Human Resources would then have disbursed the money equitably.
Soldiers in the Kfir Brigade sent a letter of complaint to IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz yesterday about the discrimination between soldiers serving in the Haredi Netzach Yehuda battalion and non-haredi soldiers.
Haredi soldiers reportedly received a one-time grant of from the philanthropist that included $3,000 towards home furnishings and another $2,000 for their families’ general needs. Married secular soldiers got nothing.
Kfir Brigade soldiers reportedly claim that senior Netzach Yehuda Battalion officers attended a charity event for their battalion’s soldiers which took place two months ago at a Jerusalem hotel.
“The outcome was that married, non-Haredi soldiers do not receive a $5,000 grant and that the IDF supports this discrimination,” one of the brigade’s non-haredi soldiers reportedly said.
IDF sources told Ynet that the charity event and the grants that grew from it are being investigated by the secretary of IDF High Command.