Israeli Court Orders Compensation for Soviet Immigrants Buried Separately in Petah Tikva Cemeteries

The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union who were buried in separate cemetery sections in Petah Tikva between 2009 and 2017 are entitled to compensation. The ruling follows a decade-long legal battle against the Chevra Kadisha burial society, which designated distinct plots for Soviet immigrants at the Segula and Yarkon cemeteries. The court found this policy discriminatory based on ethnic origin, rejecting the burial society's defense that the separation was due to customary gravestone imagery rather than discrimination.

The case began in 2016 with a class-action lawsuit filed by Eric Avrokin and Niki Zintchenko, relatives of two Soviet immigrants buried in segregated plots. In 2021, the Central District Court ordered Chevra Kadisha to pay 4.3 million shekels in damages, citing the creation of separate sections as fostering exclusion and casting doubt on the Jewish status of the deceased. The burial society subsequently changed its policy but appealed the compensation amount.

In May 2026, the Supreme Court reduced the total compensation to 3.6 million shekels after a settlement that based payouts on the number of graves rather than family members. Eligible family members can now apply for compensation of at least 2,300 shekels per family by December 4, 2026. Applicants must prove the deceased or their parents or grandparents immigrated from a former Soviet state and were buried in specified sections of Segula or Yarkon cemeteries during the relevant period.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers emphasized the ruling as a final step in addressing the harm caused by the exclusionary burial policy, which inflicted feelings of rejection and humiliation on grieving families. Applications can be submitted free of charge, with assistance available through designated contacts.