Prisoner of Zion

The former Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, and the former chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, Nathan Sharansky, were both prisoners of Zion in the Soviet Union.

In addition to the Soviet Union, Jews from other Communist countries, such as East Germany and Romania, engaged in similar struggles and were also imprisoned.

In 1999, complaints were made about the Israeli pension system, which did not credit refuseniks and Prisoners of Zion for their activism in their former countries.

And Russia was not going to give us a pension.” Ida Nudel, another longtime refusenik, was living on a pension that amounted to only 250 USD a month (in 2020 dollars, roughly $390).

"[11] However, there is an ongoing effort among many in the Jewish community (both in Israel and in the diaspora) to preserve the stories of Prisoners of Zion in their full nuance.

Concern over the potential failure to transmit these stories to younger generations has led to exhibits, documentary films, and academic writing.

MK Alex Kushnir of the right-wing party Yisrael Beitenu said, “The biggest problem with [the current] legislation is that the benefit is based on disability.