The Knesset on Monday passed an amendment recognizing LGBTQ partners of fallen IDF service members as widows and widowers, similar to heterosexual counterparts.
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The amendment followed the death of Lt. (Res.) Sagi Golan, a commander in the military's counter-terrorism special unit, who was killed in Gaza, and comes as a result of his partner's advocacy.
Golan was killed on the first day of the war after he rushed to join the battle against the Hamas offensive before receiving an official call to action.
"We are now recognized in death. Now we must continue the fight to be recognized in life too," Golan's partner, Omer, said in a social media post after the vote.
"Six days before we were to marry, you ran out to save lives and rescue families in Be'eri and were killed in battle against the evil terrorists. You fought for a country that would not allow you to marry and have children," he added, vowing to continue the fight for full equality for the LGBTQ community.
The updated law now ensures that surviving partners of fallen IDF soldiers, including those from same-sex relationships, receive financial support—a benefit previously denied under legislation unchanged since the 1950s.