This Week Unpacked: The Biggest Jewish Stories
Israel has fought six wars with neighboring Arab countries, confronted two Palestinian intifadas, and endured numerous terrorist attacks since its establishment in 1948. In this reality, to defend the Jewish state against these prolonged threats, the majority of Israelis serve in the army. Out of necessity, Israel was the first country in modern history to make military service mandatory for both men and women. Men serve for a minimum of 30 months, while women serve for a minimum of 24 months (for non-combat roles) or 30 months (for combat roles).
Israel is the strong and powerful country that it is today because of the extraordinary service and sacrifice made by its citizens throughout history. However, this comes with an enormous price. This past Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s memorial day), Israel remembered 23,928 fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks. Additionally, more than 36,000 Israelis have been physically wounded during their military service.
But there is another type of wound that many former IDF soldiers experience that isn’t as well understood as physical injuries, and hasn’t received the same level of attention in the press. That is the “invisible wound” of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, which is a mental injury that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. Traumatic events that can trigger PTSD symptoms include war and combat (for example the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas), terrorist attacks, childhood abuse and neglect, sexual violence, and natural disasters.
The experiences of former IDF soldiers with PTSD, and the question of whether the Israeli government is properly caring for these veterans, have received national attention in recent weeks. Last month, Itzik Saidyan, a 26-year-old veteran soldier who served in one of the fiercest battles in the 2014 Gaza War, set himself on fire outside the offices of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department in Petah Tikvah. When applying for government assistance following his service, Saidyan was recognized as being 25% disabled due to PTSD. Israeli news outlets reported that the Defense Ministry denied Saidyan’s request for 50% recognition, saying that a portion of his condition was due to traumatic events in his childhood, not his military service.
Saidyan’s act of protest led to calls by politicians and activists from across the political spectrum to reform Israel’s system of caring for veterans with PTSD. Wounded IDF veterans continued to demonstrate outside the Knesset and the Rehabilitation Department. The protests culminated in a government agreement reached last week to reform care for veterans with PTSD.
The plan would increase the number of staff working for the Rehabilitation Department and improve and streamline the process of recognizing injuries caused by military service and funding their treatment, especially for PTSD. Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who reviewed Israel’s rehabilitation services following Itzik’s self-immolation, said: “We have an obligation to remember the fallen, and an obligation to the living as well, including the tens of thousands of casualties who bear the scars of war on their bodies and spirits, both visibly and hidden.”
To cover this important topic, we reached out to two psychologists who are at the forefront of efforts to provide effective treatments to those with PTSD. We also spoke with two former IDF combat soldiers who shared their experiences serving as paratroopers in the 2014 Gaza War and how this impacted them after the war. One of the soldiers we interviewed asked to be kept anonymous, and we have called him “Ari” in this piece. We are particularly grateful to Max Bernstein, a business development associate at a tech company in Tel Aviv, and Ari, the founder and CEO of a startup based in Tel Aviv, for sharing their stories with us. We hope that you will be as inspired by their stories as we are and that this Weekly will help increase understanding about PTSD and how we can all help.
Watch: The Single Word That Changed My Life
Words can hurt more than we think. Sometimes we underestimate the power and effect that what we say has on others. Bullying and name calling leave scars that may not be easy to see, but they are there. This isn’t a new conversation; for thousands of years Jewish wisdom has taught us that our words can be as hurtful as our actions.
Watch: The Unique Phenomenon of the IDF’s Lone Soldier
The lone soldier, or chayal boded in Hebrew, is unique to the IDF and to Israel. What motivates young men and women from all over the world to volunteer for military service so far from their homes? And why are some local Israeli recruits also Lone Soldiers? Explore the connection that draws young Jews from around the world to Israel every year to voluntarily join the IDF and find out how Israelis have been supporting these soldiers dating back to Israel’s War of Independence in 1948.
