On Tuesday, soldiers in the IDF Kfir brigade sent a letter to the office of Chief of Staff Benny Gantz complaining about discrimination between soldiers serving in the Haredi Netzach Yehuda battalion and other soldiers in the brigade, Walla reports.
According to the soldiers’ claims it appears that recently soldiers serving in the Haredi battalion each received a grant of $5,000 from an American philanthropist.
According to one of the soldiers that discovered the occurrence, the Haredi soldiers received a one-time grant of $3,000 towards home furnishing and $2,000 towards general shopping for their families. The soldier claims that other soldiers, especially married secular soldiers, have been discriminated against since they are not eligible for this grant.
According to IDF orders, any contribution made for IDF soldiers has to go through the Association for the Wellbeing of Israeli Soldiers which distributes the money under the supervision of the Office of Human Resources personnel department.
Soldiers further claimed that senior Netzach Yehuda officers were in attendance at a charity event on behalf of the Haredi soldiers which took place two months ago at a Jerusalem hotel.
“The outcome was that married, non-Haredi soldiers do not receive a $5,000 grant and that the IDF supports this discrimination,” said a brigade soldier.
IDF sources report that the matter is being investigated by the secretary of IDF High Command.
The IDF spokesperson responded: “When the complaint letter is received, it will receive a direct reply. Army orders forbid direct contributions to individual soldiers or a unit which do not go through the Association for the Wellbeing of the Soldier or the Libi Fund.”