Since the October Seven, approximately 86,000 civilian hostile actions casualties have been recognized in the State of Israel.
At the beginning of the war, the National Insurance Institute provided, as part of the provision of immediate relief (even before determining disability percentages), refunds for alternative healthcare treatments for the benefit of rehabilitation, including refunds for: acupuncture, surfing, therapeutic riding, Tuina, and more. Following the national emergency declared after the October 7 attacks, hundreds of thousands of receipts were sent to the National Insurance Institute for reimbursement of alternative healthcare - a benefit granted until March 2025.
Upon examining the hundreds of thousands of receipts, it was found that there were gaps between the declarations of approximately 2,700 victims who claimed to have received treatment within the framework of alternative medicine and the receipts that presented the purchase of airline tickets, jewelry, sportswear, shoes, electronics, supermarket shopping, and more. It should be emphasized that the alternative healthcare treatments are from a well-known and restricted list published on the National Insurance Institute website and in the claim form that each victim submitted and declared.
In addition, criminals were found promoting fraud procedures and approached victims of hostile actions to forge receipts in exchange for payment while they transferred fake receipts to the National Insurance Institute.
Out of hundreds of thousands of valid receipts, for which the National Insurance Institute paid reimbursements to hostile action casualties, approximately 2,700 citizens were found to have sent receipts illegally totaling more than NIS 15 million.
Today, the National Insurance Institute sent reimbursement requests to 2,700 insured persons, after a thorough examination of the receipts that did not comply with the law.
Reimbursements can be settled in several ways, and at the same time, those who received a reimbursement request were given the opportunity to provide proof within 45 days that they indeed received alternative healthcare treatment as they declared.
National Insurance Institute: "The October 7 disaster added tens of thousands of victims to the circle of hostilities, who were recognized and treated by the National Insurance Institute. Refunds for alternative healthcare are intended for the benefit of the physical and mental health and rehabilitation of the victims. Those who took advantage of these benefits to buy jewelry, smartphones, furniture, clothing, etc. did so knowingly. This is public money allocated for alternative medicine treatments and not for a personal shopping trip. Such conduct harms the hostile actions casualties, the vast majority of whom are honest and in need of these treatments. Such exploitation of public funds harms the victims and Israeli society as a whole. These funds will be returned and will continue to be allocated only for those who are eligible."