Last update - 00:00 01/01/2007
Gov't to expand list of reserve soldiers entitled to war benefits
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Deputy Defense Minister Efraim Sneh have persuaded the cabinet to expand the number of Israel Defense Forces reservists eligible for benefits for having served in the Lebanon war this summer.
The expanded list will include soldiers who received emergency call-up orders between August 14, when a cease-fire was declared, and September 10, when the IDF withdrew from Lebanon.
In addition, reservists who performed regular reserve duty during the war but were not drafted via a seven-day emergency order are also included.
The benefits are worth a few thousand shekels depending on the number of days served. Peretz told the cabinet the decision did not involve a new budgetary allocation, and could be paid by using funds originally earmarked for wartime reservists.
During the month after the cease-fire, several battalions were drafted, mostly to the territories, to replace regular soldiers still posted in Lebanon.
However, the new decision still "discriminates" against some battalions that received short-notice call-ups soon after the war, but received more than a week's notice.