In an agreement reached with the Defense Ministry, the latter will pay 21 million NIS to a fund assisting IDF soldiers who were used in an anthrax experiment during their service. Each of the 716 participants in the voluntary experiment will be awarded 27,000 NIS as per the agreement reached and accepted by a district court.

The “Omer 2” program refers to IDF experimentation fifteen years ago as the nation was concerned with threats of missiles armed with anthrax warheads. Hundreds of soldiers from different units took part in the program. The case has been in the district court for six years until the agreement was reached.

Many of the participants in Omer 2 feel that military used them as it wished and then forgot about them.

The details of Omer 2 experiment were published in 2008, and it was learned a total of 716 soldiers were involved from 1998-2006. They were part of the program designed to develop an anthrax vaccination. Some of the soldiers later reported they had unusual skin growths, severe pneumonia, bronchitis, and severe migraines, which they attribute to the experiment.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)