More than 20,000 civil service retirees and retired teachers did not receive their monthly benefit

More than 20,000 civil service retirees and retired teachers did not receive their monthly pension at all for June 2021, or received a reduced pension by tens of percent - according to the pensioners 'complaints, which were forwarded to the Histadrut, the Teachers' Union and the government. One of the teachers reported to the teachers' union that instead of receiving her pension benefit, she received a demand for payment of a debt of NIS 18,000. The chairman of the Histadrut, Ariel Yaakovi, agreed with the director of pensions that already today (Monday) advances of 75% of the pension or the reduction made will be transferred.
The Ministry of Finance said that the problem with the payment of the benefit was due to a technical error, which will be corrected soon, but said that deductions were made in the benefit of civil servants, including retiring teachers who did not fill out Form 101, according to a new tax directive. From that date, retirees are also asked to fill out such a form. Some retirees have sent such forms by regular mail, and it appears that the Retirement Administration has not received all the forms. Yaakobi said: "This is a shocking step, opacity and abuse of the elderly who do not get what they deserve. Who gave a gift by signing a form when it comes to very old people?"
Some of the retiring teachers said their benefit was reduced even though they filled out Form 101 as requested. "I am 79 years old, a retiree of the Ministry of Education, and this month the income tax took all the benefit from me claiming that I did not fill out Form 101, even though I filled out and sent it. I was not even told what to do and who to contact," a retiree reported.
In recent months, the state has been implementing the pension agreement signed with the Teachers' Union in 2019, and has changed the way benefits are calculated. According to the Ministry of Finance, errors in payment were discovered among some of the pensioners as a result of a change in the calculation process. The Ministry of Finance said that they would transfer advances to retirees who did not fill out Form 101 as required to reduce the harm to them. In recent years, there have been several large-scale deficiencies in the payment of teachers' salaries, and they have been resolved by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance.
The secretary general of the Teachers' Union, Yaffa Ben-David, said in response yesterday: "We demand that they take care of transferring the benefit today. There has never been a mishap of this magnitude that has affected thousands of retirees. What the Retirement Administration did this month is simply a crime. Despite our inquiries before calculating the June salary, which was known to be complex due to the convalescence clause and payment of a jubilee grant (a grant given to teachers with more than 25 years of experience; I very much hope that those responsible for this terrible malfunction will pay the price. We demand a quick and professional response to all our thousands of retirees, who simply cannot buy bread or medicine. Since Friday I have been receiving hundreds of inquiries from helpless people. It is a shame that this is how the State of Israel treats its retirees. "