Knesset Labor Committee: IDF capitalization pensioners no longer repay loans 'for life'

IDF retirees who have repaid loans taken out against their pensions as part of “Capitalization for Life” will be able to stop their ongoing monthly repayments, the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare committee announced on Wednesday.

“Capitalization for Life,” was a benefit offered to IDF pensioners that allowed them to receive a one-time payment of a percentage of their monthly pension. For many beneficiaries, this repayment was made over a certain amount of time, but for a group of 1,700, repayment was set to occur throughout their entire lives, even when the capitalization was repaid. For some, this means that they have repaid much more than the sum they received.

Repayment stopping for over 70 

Repayment will be stopped for pensioners over 70 who have repaid the full amount of their capitalization, the committee said.

“I took a capitalization of NIS 330,000 and repaid NIS 3,000 a month, taken from my pension,” said an IDF pensioner in the committee. “Cumulatively, I have repaid over NIS 1 million.”

“When they defined the Capitalization for Life program, people’s life span was shorter,” explained Col. (res.) Amir Shutzman, chair of the IDF pensioners organization. “People are living longer today, and this is a terrible injustice. People have come to me who have been paying thousands of shekels for years, adding up to massive amounts, far more than they withdrew from their funds.”