Same-sex couples will be formally recognised by the Israeli Defence Ministry under the laws governing the families of fallen IDF soldiers, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed on Monday afternoon.
Gallant’s confirmation that the benefits available to the families of fallen soldiers would also apply to the same-sex partners of soldiers killed during the ongoing Operation Swords of Iron comes after Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana requested clarification on the matter last Thursday.
“At this difficult time, when IDF soldiers and security forces are preparing for a long and difficult war to eradicate Israel’s enemies, LGBT people are among them,” wrote Ohana, who is openly gay.
“Some of them have contacted me about this matter, with great concern that they will be discriminated against. I think it is very important to repeat the obvious – that there is no difference between blood and blood or between one family and another as far as the rights provided by the law are concerned”.
In response to the Ohana’s request, the Defence Ministry wrote on Monday that “our moral debt to the bereaved family is enormous and we do not distinguish between religion, race, sexual orientation or any other factor.
“The Ministry of Defence interprets the laws on the families of fallen soldiers to apply equally to same-sex couples.”
In addition to the MoD’s statement, Gallant released a statement emphasising that “as a country and as a society, we have a deep and important commitment to the fallen soldiers of the defence system and their precious families.
“Just as female and male IDF soldiers serve side by side and are called to give their lives in defence of the country, without distinction of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation, so it will be in their deaths.”
Since the Hamas massacre on 7 October, in which some 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 222 taken hostage, at least one case of a fallen soldier leaving behind a same-sex partner has been made public.
Reserve Captain Sagi Golan and his male partner Omer Ohana were due to marry on 20 October. However, Golan was killed in combat while fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on Saturday 7 October.
Golan served in Lotar, an elite counter-terrorism unit within the IDF, and was killed on Saturday night while leading his unit in battle against Hamas.
Following Golan’s death, Ohana told Channel 12 in an interview that when the notification of his partner’s death arrived, there was no option for him to sign the form, as it was not designed with same-sex couples in mind.
“It made me so angry,” he said at the time. “I was the one who loved him. But I wasn’t taken into account. And he wasn’t considered.”