Support for bereaved siblings

A professional committee to define the response for bereaved siblings

• •An employment-rehabilitation basket: professional occupational assessment and career counseling, vocational training and courses, support and repeated meetings with a career counselor, and a targeted job-placement program in the labor market. We will examine granting tax credit points.
• •Care leave (similar to parental leave) for bereaved siblings who take a primary role in caregiving at home. We will work to amend labor law so that a sibling who bears a family burden can request temporary adjustments to working hours or the option of remote work – even after the mourning year ends, if the impact on work still exists, and we will ensure legal protection from dismissal in the first mourning year, as the law requires.
• •For siblings who want to set up a business, we will support a loan on preferred terms.
• •Enforcement and expansion of the explicit protection of the bereaved sibling's workplace: an employer will not be allowed to dismiss a bereaved brother or sister on the basis of absence due to family care needs during the first mourning year or close to memorial days, and the right to family care leave.

A professional committee to define the response for bereaved siblings

• •Eligibility for a bachelor's degree or vocational training, on terms similar to those of IDF orphans, subject to the eligibility the committee will define.
• •A tailored response for young siblings (under age 18) in the education system, including recognition as a bereaved sibling, accompanying counseling, accommodations, and support at the transition to military, civil or national service.

A professional committee to define the response for bereaved siblings

• •A preferred loan for buying a first apartment at a reduced interest rate (similar to the assistance granted to widows, bereaved parents and orphans) and property-tax (arnona) discounts.

Getting on the Straight Path!

• •Every bereaved brother and sister will receive representation, support, compensation in the critical years and tools for returning to the course of life.
• •The State of Israel will not leave them alone.

Recognition and appreciation

• •By definition: siblings of those killed in Israel's wars and of members of the security forces, and siblings of those killed in hostile acts.

Recognition, distinct status and a representative organization

• •We will establish a professional team, together with civil-society organizations, to set up a representative organization for bereaved siblings. The representative organization will examine the broad response given today, and will stand up for the realization of bereaved siblings' rights. We will amend the definitions in the law so that they lead to full recognition of the status of bereaved siblings.
• •The siblings are the bearers of memory for future generations. We will define a worthy place for them in the state memorial ceremonies and integrate them into the commemoration and education programs, because meeting bereaved siblings is a source of strength, hope and choosing life.
• •With the recognition of bereavement, the state will proactively approach bereaved siblings and present them with their rights. Each sibling will be assigned a companion who will help build the rehabilitation plan and realize the rights vis-à-vis the government ministries and the various institutions.
• •We will establish a dedicated hotline that will provide answers for clarifying and realizing rights for bereaved siblings.

A professional committee to define the response for bereaved siblings

• •We will establish a professional committee that will define the response for bereaved siblings and publish a report of recommendations.
• •Among other things, the committee will set the qualifying date for applying the additional rights.
• •An initial response that includes recognition, emotional and legal support, treatment, realization of rights and employment. This support will be provided together with social workers who specialize in trauma and bereavement. In line with the Yashar! plan for growth out of crisis and building national resilience, the siblings themselves will keep the right to choose their companions and will be given the full response described in the plan.
• •A structured assessment system that will identify specific needs across three main diagnoses: the extent of responsibility for caring for the family, their situation in studies or employment, and their needs in the field of mental health. Following this diagnosis, targeted and personal rehabilitation.
• •Examining compensation for bereaved siblings, such as one-time settling-in grants close to the loss – in order to support siblings' return to financial independence. In addition, ongoing or temporary grants will be examined as needed. A tailored response will be given to siblings who were minors at the time of the loss.
• •Expanding the existing quota of 162 sessions up to age 40, and after that – eligibility will be determined by a special committee.
• •Professional emotional and mental-health treatment over many years. The ability to choose the personally suitable treatment from a basket of options will be preserved – individual, group or family treatment, or a combination. We will work to expand the variety of responses that exist today, and in particular to make the variety accessible in the periphery.
• •A subsidized response that will allow free access to cultural events, as part of rehabilitation.
• •Support for community support groups, forums, rehabilitation with animals and programs in companies and institutions to build community among bereaved siblings. We will connect them with mentors who went through similar rehabilitation processes and can share experience. Bereaved siblings will be eligible for the full package defined in the Yashar! plan for growth out of crisis and building national resilience.
• •A dedicated basket of tools for bereaved siblings who actually bear a significant burden of caring for their parents or minor siblings. The definition of a sibling as the main bearer of responsibility for caring for their parents during the mourning period will be set on the basis of a professional assessment by a social worker, of the care needs and of the sibling's share in it, similar to the existing mechanisms in the welfare and National Insurance systems.
• •A tailored response for bereaved siblings who remained the only children of their parents.
• •A dedicated response for bereaved siblings in the third age.