Last week, the Defense Ministry launched the "Pikadon 2000" (Deposit 2000) program, in which it called on discharged soldiers and national-service volunteers who served from January 1, 1992 until December 31, 2000 to come and make use of the funds in the personal deposit accounts that were opened for them upon completion of their military service.
So far, more than 340,000 people have entered the ministry's Discharged Soldiers Branch and fund to check their entitlement. About 2,105 have already withdrawn 8.3 million shekels in deposits, out of NIS 110 million in the state coffers. Anyone with a balance and a form from the site can go to any branch of Bank Leumi or Hapoalim and withdraw the money, even if his or her account is managed by another bank.