Private intermediaries and ambulance companies have been charging grieving families hundreds and even thousands of shekels to transport the deceased from their homes, despite Israeli law mandating that such removals within a local burial society’s jurisdiction be provided free of charge.
Following a wave of complaints, the national forum of burial societies and the National Insurance Institute announced new measures to regulate the process and prevent unauthorized fees.
Under Israeli law, transporting a deceased person within the jurisdiction of the local burial society is a basic service provided at no cost, and families are entitled to burial in their city of residence. The National Insurance Institute states that burial fees include transportation expenses. Volunteer organizations such as ZAKA also advise the public not to pay private parties for removal services covered by law.
Nevertheless, private intermediaries have been operating in recent months, presenting themselves as representatives of families or as “official services.” They contacted burial societies on families’ behalf and charged fees — in some cases around 2,500 shekels — for services that should have been free. According to the burial societies forum, more than five such incidents were reported over a single recent weekend, part of what officials described as a broader pattern exploiting families during moments of grief and confusion.
In response, the burial societies forum, in coordination with the Religious Services Ministry, said it will implement a uniform system to eliminate unauthorized charges. Beginning Monday at 4 p.m., all burial societies in the forum will accept removal requests only if they are submitted directly through a single national hotline.
Previously, third parties could obtain information from nursing homes or relatives, contact burial societies and act as intermediaries. Under the new system, burial societies will reject requests made by third parties. Only direct calls from family members to the official, free national hotline will be processed.
The Religious Services Ministry said it will conduct ongoing oversight of requests. Reports containing an address different from the deceased’s registered residence — a method officials say was used to bypass the system — will trigger a review.
Private ambulance companies continue to advertise removal services, with prices varying depending on distance and time of day. However, the burial societies forum stressed that when the removal takes place within the local jurisdiction, there is no legal basis for charging families privately.
“We will no longer allow unscrupulous actors to exploit grieving families at their most difficult hour,” the forum said in a statement. “The removal is free, and families are entitled to a dignified and transparent service.”
Authorities urged the public not to contact private ambulance services or commercial call centers in the event of a death. Families should call the official national hotline at *0120. Any demand for payment for a basic removal within the local jurisdiction is unlawful and should be reported, officials said.