IDF troops want pay increase - to minimum wage
With Passover approaching, conscripted soldiers say their meager monthly allowance means they cannot afford to buy food to mark the holiday.
Tens of thousands of Israel Defense Forces soldiers are sick and tired of going hungry.
With 10 days to go before the Passover holiday, many soldiers have contacted Ynet's sister newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth to say they expect the new government to bring their salaries in line with the minimum wage in the economy.
Elad, 18, from Ashdod, who was one of signatories on the so-called Hungry Soldiers' Letter that was sent some six months ago to the prime minister, defense minister and chief of staff, says his financial situation has deteriorated even further since then and that he is struggling to provide for himself.
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"I'm in a very tough situation," he says. "I'm going hungry. I'm thousands of shekels in debt, there's a lien on my bank account, and I have loans I have no way of repaying."
Elad and many other soldiers don't get financial support from their families, and they are forced to get by on just a few hundreds shekels a month.
Yonatan, 20, from Be'er Sheva, serves in the Israel Air Force. "I'm scared that someone from the Bailiff's Office is going to show up one day," he says.
"I don't know whether to pay the bills that keep getting bigger or to buy food. There's no food in the house during the week; I eat lunch at the base and go to bed at night hungry. I haven't bought myself a new shirt or gone to a movie in more than two years. I live the most frugal life imaginable."
The soldiers don't know how they will celebrate the holiday. "How are we supposed to do shopping for the holiday with NIS 550?" Elad asks. "The army gives us a parcel with basic foodstuffs, but we want a seder meal like everyone else, with some vegetables and chicken, and maybe even some wine, on the table too."
The hungry soldiers have issued an impassioned appeal to the party leaders, calling on them to insist that the new government's guidelines include an increase in soldiers' salaries to the level of the minimum wage in the economy.
"Yes, the housing crisis is important and the cost of living does affect a very large number of people," says Rami, 19, from Haifa, who serves in an infantry unit. "But increasing the wages of the soldiers is no less important. You need to understand that we aren't able to sustain ourselves. I expect the prime minister not to forget life itself."
Aid organizations are reporting a significant increase in the number of soldiers seeking assistance. "More than 30,000 conscripts have received financial assistance from the army, and there are still tens of thousands more applications for assistance, says Shifra Shahar from A Warm Home for Every Soldier.
"For the past month, I've been getting more than 100 calls a day from soldiers seeking assistance," she says. "The numbers are crazy."
According to a statement from the IDF Spokesman's Office, soldiers who are entitled to financial assistance and lonely soldiers receive shopping vouchers totaling NIS 500 ahead of the holiday – over and above the regular aid packages they receive monthly.
In addition, the Spokesman's Office said, the IDF provides soldiers who are not eligible for regular monthly assistance with special bonuses or vouchers for the holiday. Lonely soldiers also have the option of attending seders in various locations around the country.
If you'd like to make a donation to needy soldiers, please contact A Warm Home for Every Solider at (972) 3-9533334, via their website - www.baitcham.org.il . Soldiers who require assistance can call (972) 2-5662105.
