Why does MK receive an army pension?

Ynet learns Nachman Shai, who served as IDF spokesman, receives pension from Defense Ministry despite only serving for three years as career officer. Law stipulates army pension dispensed after at least eight years of service. 'All decisions made by certified IDF elements,' Shai says
Tani Goldstein

While the salaries and work conditions of Knesset members are constantly being scrutinized by the public, Ynet learned Sunday that Knesset Member Nachman Shai (Kadima), who previously served as IDF spokesman, receives a pension from the Defense Ministry in addition to his MK salary, thanks to a creative arrangement concocted by the army.

The law stipulates that officers and NCO's (non-commissioned officers) who have left the Israel Defense Forces are entitled to receive a pension only if they were released from duty after the age of 40 and had served for at least eight consecutive years. IDF data indicate that Shai, 63, who originally served the customary three years in the 1960s, returned to army duty in 1988 as commander of Israel Army Radio.

A year and a half later he was appointed IDF spokesman, for which he gained a legendary reputation. He left the army three years later in 1991 and was appointed chairman of the Second Authority for Television and Radio.

Despite his retirement, the IDF, it appears, still considered Shai as its member. Army records listed him as a career officer on unpaid leave between the years of 1991 and 1996. The leave lasted four years and 11 months – the exact amount of time required to complete his overall service to eight years. Since his official "retirement" from the IDF in 1996, Shai has been receiving an army pension.

The IDF spokesman, as well as Shai himself, refused to answer Ynet's question as to whether the army provided Shai with a pension during his unpaid leave years, a time in which he also received retirement payments from the Second Authority. Sources in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit stressed that Shai had paid a certain sum to "acquire" the leave.

It should be noted that the IDF has previously promised a pension to retired officers in order to lure them back into service as career officers. The leaves were planned in advance even when the army and the officers themselves knew they weren't meant to return to service. It should be noted that the IDF stopped employing this "trick" three years ago following criticism leveled from within the army and government.

Responses

Shai issued a statement in response to the claims in which he noted, "I served as the IDF spokesman in 1989-1991. After then-IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak decided to appoint a new spokesman, I was left with no other position in the IDF and therefore went on an unpaid leave. Each IDF spokesman should be judged differently. All decisions pertaining to my service in the IDF were made under the authority of certified elements in the IDF."

It should be noted that Shai and his army supervisors had not broken any law. His pension is allotted according to terms recognized by the law. He retired from the army after the age of 40 and according to IDF records has served the full eight years. Still, the army and Shai's conduct raises serious questions as to the legality of the acts, such as whether an officer is entitled to a pension for a long period in which he wasn't in service.

The Movement for Freedom of Information stated in response, "Too often large public apparatuses such as the IDF allow themselves to conduct unjustifiable shady business plans, certain that no one will raise any questions. The IDF still needs to report to the public what amount of public funds had been paid and would be paid under this arrangement. "

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit statement read, "According to IDF records Knesset Member Nachman Shai served as a career officer for eight years, out of which four years and eleven months were spent in an unpaid leave. A career officer is permitted to acquire the leave period in order to include it for allowance purposes and that is what has been done in this case.

"In light of this, MK Shai's entire leave period was calculated in order to find him eligible for a pension. This eligibility, after only eight years of service, was authorized by the certified IDF parties at the time. Therefore, MK Shai is entitled to an IDF pension."