Pensioner Advocacy Group Urges Knesset Parties to Address Immigrant Retiree Needs

The Forum in Support of Immigrant Pensioners (FORUM), an umbrella organization of over 40 public groups of former Soviet Union (FSU) émigrés, has submitted a program for improving the lives of immigrant retirees for the years 2027-2030 to the leaders of five Israeli political parties. The FORUM is urging party leaders to lobby the upcoming 26th Knesset and the government to implement proposals from this program. The program was developed by the Hazit HaKavod Movement.

A key issue highlighted is that many FSU émigré pensioners, despite working in Israel for 20-30 years, lack Israeli pension savings and live below the poverty line on state old-age benefits alone. This situation is exacerbated by alleged financial damage from economic discrimination. For instance, 73% of FSU-origin Holocaust survivors live in poverty, compared to only 1% of European-origin Holocaust survivors, a disparity attributed to unequal state aid.

The program's publication has already yielded results, with four parties, Yesh Atid, Zehut, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Yashar, including commitments to address immigrant pensioner issues in their platforms for the 26th Knesset elections. This marks a change from previous elections.

To build on this momentum, the FORUM plans to meet with party leaders and campaign managers before the elections to detail the challenges and proposed solutions. A meeting with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and other party members on September 22 resulted in Yesh Atid pledging to work towards equalizing the rights of FSU-origin Holocaust survivors with those of European-origin survivors who arrived before October 1, 1953.