Called to the front, return to debt: The National Insurance Institute's double-payment fiasco

An investigation reveals a recurring pattern of heavy debts imposed on reserve soldiers by the National Insurance Institute, due to duplicate payments the system mistakenly made during the war. The soldiers discover the debts by chance, months or even years after their release, without prior notice, and are forced to deal with interest and indexation.

An investigation by Walla reveals a widespread failure at the National Insurance Institute: reserve soldiers are discovering heavy debts, ranging from 1,229 shekels to about 30,000 shekels, due to duplicate payments the system mistakenly made during the war. The debts are discovered by chance, months or even nearly two years after release, without any proactive notice from the institution. In some cases, interest and indexation have already been imposed. The investigation brings testimonies from six soldiers: Dor, who discovered a debt of 7,000 shekels by chance; a fighter who had to pay 30,000 shekels from his savings; Maayan, a student who discovered a debt of 16,000 shekels; Yuval, who discovered a debt with 'crazy interest' through Instagram; Ariel, who was required to pay a debt for service from 2024; Yonatan, who tried to warn in real time and was still fined; and Shai, who discovered an additional debt of 10,000 shekels after already returning a duplicate payment in the past. The mechanism: compensation transferred directly to the soldier was simultaneously paid through the employer, and changes in employment status created data gaps. The National Insurance Institute's spokesperson did not provide a substantive response, instead choosing to attack the system and send a cynical link to the Wikipedia entry for 'journalist'.