The National Insurance Institute of Israel is required by law to cover the burial expenses of each Israeli citizen. However, it is not clear what the institute's obligations are in the event the deceased stated before his death that he wishes to be cremated instead.
A lawsuit that was submitted to the Tel Aviv regional labor court on Wednesday claimed that the National Insurance Institute failed to reimburse the cremation costs of a woman who expressed her wish to be cremated before she passed away, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
The woman's son had paid a company called "Leaves of Autumn" (Aley Shalechet) NIS 7,000 (approximately USD 1,500) for the cremation of his mother's body, but when he applied for a refund of the costs from the insurance institute, he was rejected on the ground that he was not eligible for a repayment.
The plaintiff stated in the lawsuit that the national Insurance Law claims that after a person had died, the National Insurance Institute is committed to pay for his burial, or in other words, that it is responsible for covering the expenses needed for bringing the person to his last resting place.
According to the lawsuit, although the word of the law refers only to 'burial expenses,' the National Insurance Institute must be required to pay for cremations as well.
"Reimbursing these expenses does not constitute a charity from the government, but an insurance which the State's citizens purchase with their money, and pay for every month until their retirement," the suit stated.
A spokesperson for the National Insurance Institute said in response that "according to the law, the payment is intended for funding burials, not cremations, and the institute is therefore prevented from paying for cremations at this point."