Those who died fighting for Israel before getting a chance to become citizens of the new country will receive their citizenship posthumously.
Legislation proposed by MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home), already well on its way towards passage in the Knesset, attempts to right what many perceive as a historic injustice. “This bill is the ethical obligation of a country towards those who gave their lives for its establishment - and who, because of that, were unable to receive its citizenship,” Orlev explained. “The purpose of this law is to raise up and cherish their memory.”
The bill’s first reading passed in the Knesset, and has received Knesset committee approval. It must now pass its final readings in the Knesset plenum, which it is expected to do easily.
The law relates to those who were killed serving in the Haganah, Irgun, Lechi or what later became the IDF, between the dates Nov. 29, 1947 (when the UN voted for Partition, paving the way for the establishment of the State of Israel) and Dec. 31, 1948.
In addition, honorary citizenship will be granted to those who were killed during that period in war-related attacks even if they were not enlisted as fighters. These include drivers and passengers in besieged convoys such as the one that was massacred on its way to Hadassah Hospital. What is known as the "Hadassah medical convoy massacre" took place on April 13, 1948, when a convoy, escorted by Haganah militia and bringing medical and fortification supplies and personnel to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus, was ambushed by Arab forces; 79 Jews, mostly doctors and nurses, were murdered in the brutal, hours-long attack. The British had previously assured the travelers that the route was safe, and many reports say they were “slow” in offering help and protection during the attack.
“I expect that the Interior and Defense Ministries will grant the citizenship papers as early as this coming Independence Day [six weeks from now],” MK Orlev said, “and we will thus pay our societal and national debt to those who gave their lives for all of us.”
The ministerial committee for legislation will consider separately a proposal to extend the law to all non-citizens who ever died fighting for Israel.