Pensions from Russia did not arrive: how Putin’s war against Ukraine hit 17,000 repatriate pensioners in Israel — and why the state is obliged to pay now and collect the debt later

Sending them to Putin is, of course, the simplest solution, but…

On February 10, 2026, in Jerusalem, at a meeting of the parliamentary commission on Aliyah, Absorption, and Diaspora, they discussed not “general geopolitics,” but a specific problem: pensions from Russia stopped reaching thousands of immigrant pensioners in Israel.

In official speeches, this often sounds like “transfer chains,” “banking procedures,” “compliance.”

But the real reason is not hidden in accounting. It is in the war unleashed by Putin’s Russia against Ukraine, and in the cascade of sanctions that this war inevitably triggers.

What was said on February 10: numbers, names, direct formulations

The commission meeting was chaired by acting chairman MP Yevgeny Sova. His position was not “let’s pity the people,” but this is the responsibility of the state: it concerns immigrants who “worked all their lives,” and when their pension rights collapse — this is no longer a private story of one family.

The key figure of the meeting: approximately 17,000 people receive pensions through transfer lines, where the Israeli intermediary is Bituach Leumi. After February 2022, there were serious difficulties, some routes managed to be maintained, but since 2025, problems have returned even with these schemes.

Bituach Leumi lawyer Levana Ezra specifically pointed out that it is a debt of about 32 million dollars, and emphasized the readiness to change the technical parameters of the scheme (including discussing a switch to euros instead of dollars), just to get the money to the recipients. Her words contained the harshest truth: people are passing away, and every month of delay is not an “inconvenience,” but a chance not to receive what was earned at all.

From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alex Goldman-Shayman spoke. He talked about negotiations and attempts to move the process from a dead point: the option of mass pension transfers to thousands of recipients was discussed, there was a meeting of Israeli leadership with the Russian ambassador, assurances about “all agreements” were made, but the fact remained the same — the money did not arrive, and the Israeli side tried to understand where exactly the “blockage” was and why the chain did not pass the funds.

From the Bank of Israel, a key point was made, which is important to translate from regulatory language to human: the problem is outside the Israeli banking system. That is, the bottleneck is in the international chain and external participants of the transfers. Representatives of the regulator explained the situation with sanction risks, checks, prohibitions, and the fact that each case is considered separately, without “green corridors.”

How Russian pensions are arranged and why they “stopped”

It is important to clarify: this is not an Israeli pension and not a benefit within the country.

This is a pension from Russia, that is, money that the Russian side must transfer for the service earned on its territory. This is how the interstate logic works under the agreement between the Russian Federation and Israel: the country pays for its service.

To prevent pensioners from constantly confirming their status through consulates and to avoid double payments, Bituach Leumi acts as a technical intermediary in Israel. It confirms the recipient’s status and delivers the funds to the person.

This scheme worked for years.

But the war changed everything.

In editorial offices that daily record the connection between the war and Israeli social reality, this topic is raised not “for the sake of politics,” but because it is about the survival of specific people — that is why NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency keeps the issue on the agenda: Russian aggression destroys Ukrainian cities, and its financial consequences hit elderly immigrants here in Israel.

Why this is not a “failure,” but a consequence of Putin’s aggression

To be honest, without cover-ups:

pensions from Russia do not arrive because Putin’s Russia started a war against Ukraine — and in response, the world imposed sanctions and heightened financial control regimes.

This is a chain where there is no mysticism:

war → international condemnation → sanctions and toxicity of Russian payments → intermediary blockages/refusals → pensions do not reach Israel.

And when elderly people are told “we can’t, banks don’t pass,” it sounds like avoiding the main issue: who created the situation in which banks began to block this money at all.

It was created by Putin and those who made and supported the decision for war — the political leadership of Russia, the power bloc, the state machine that turned the country into a regime of aggression and isolation.

Ukrainian cities were destroyed and continue to be destroyed.

People are dying and being maimed.

Millions have become forced migrants.

Against this background, financial flows from Russia are perceived as a risk zone — and pensions are hit as a side effect of military policy.

Who is to blame — and why this needs to be explained to the same pensioners

The blame is not on the “transfer system” itself.

The blame is on Putin’s Russia, which unleashed the war and made its financial infrastructure toxic to half the world.

If among the pension recipients there are those who once supported Putin — this is not a reason for moralizing, but it is a reason to say honestly:

the policy of war returns with a bill.

Sometimes literally — a bank account where it’s empty.

What Israel must do: two lines simultaneously

Here begins the most fundamental question that irritates people the most: why does the state speak as if it is “not involved,” if its citizens are suffering.

Your logic is clear: Israel is not to blame for the war, but Israel is responsible for its citizens.

Therefore, two parallel lines are needed.

1) First — compensation to its citizens

Not “wait a little longer.”

Not “these are international procedures.”

But a temporary state scheme that covers the income gap for those who documentally confirm the right to a pension from Russia and the fact of non-receipt.

This can be a “bridge” payment — not as a gift, but as an obligation of the state to vulnerable citizens, whom it has no right to abandon between war and sanctions.

2) Then — recover the debt from Russia by any legal means

After people in Israel are protected, the state must act toughly towards the source of the problem.

Demand fulfillment of obligations.

Apply diplomatic pressure.

Go to courts where possible.

Seek legal mechanisms for recovery, including pressure through assets and commercial property, if permissible by law.

The main thing is not to pretend that “the money just didn’t arrive.”

This is money that didn’t arrive because of the war started by Putin’s regime.

And if the state of Israel chooses to “sit on the fence,” citizens pay for this “fence” with their pension.

Conclusion without euphemisms

Pensions from Russia did not disappear into thin air.

They were stopped by the reality created by Putin’s war against Ukraine: international isolation, sanctions, bank fears, route blockages.

And if Israel recognizes these people as its citizens, it is obliged to:

first close their gap now,

and then — recover the debt from Russia to the end, without excuses and without imitating helplessness.