An office of the Israeli Defense Ministry decided to recognize six Israelis killed and wounded outside Israel as victims of terrorism, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the recognition came after the Knesset approved an amendment to the law for compensation of victims of terrorism in a vote on March 21.
According to the amendment, victims of terror attacks abroad will be recognized by the Israeli government if the organization responsible for the attack is known as an organization that targets Israel as part of its stated mission, even if the specific attack in which the victim was killed was not targeted at Israeli or Jewish targets.
The move is significant, since terror victims are eligible for financial assistance from the National Insurance Institute and other benefits that they or their families would not receive if their injuries did not occur as the result of terrorism.
Lawyer Yedidya Oron, the senior deputy of the defense system’s legal adviser, decided to recognize six victims of terror attacks, and the department treating victims of terrorism at the National Insurance Institute was notified of the decision, so the victims and their families can start the process of receiving privileges given to terror victims.
The six victims recognized according to the new amendment are Shmuel Ben Hillel, who was killed in an attack in Mali in November 2015; Dalia Elyakim, who was killed in a car ramming terror attack in Berlin in December 2016, and her husband Rami who was wounded in the same attack; Lian Nasser, who was killed in an attack in Istanbul at the beginning of 2017; and Hayim Winternitz, who was wounded in a terror attack on the Brussels airport in March 2016.