Israel must save IDF soldiers from PTSD - opinion

In the past two weeks, four IDF soldiers took their own lives. Since October 7, dozens of soldiers from a wide variety of units and backgrounds have taken their own lives, and many others struggle with severe trauma.

In June 2024, Eliran Mizrahi received another call-up to reserve duty. This was a short while after he had finished some eight months of reserve duty in Gaza. He was recognized as someone suffering from PTSD, yet he was called up again. He couldn’t handle it. Two days before his unit was set to start, he took his own life, leaving his wife widowed and his four children fatherless.

We have seen this before. Itzik Saidian lit himself on fire outside the Defense Ministry in 2021 after years of begging for help (he survived). He was a combat soldier who returned from battle carrying scars no one could see. It took flames for the system to pay attention. His story shocked the nation, and reforms followed, but not enough changed.

The IDF has taken important steps: deploying mental health officers to units, offering resilience workshops, and expanding access to treatment. Units have group sessions with professional therapists, and access to psychologists and other healthcare workers has become easier and more widely accepted.

These are moves in the right direction, but they’re not enough to meet the scale of the trauma. Soldiers who fought in Gaza, witnessed the aftermath of October 7, or have been under fire in the North are carrying unbearable emotional burdens. Some lost friends in battle. Others lost family members at home. Some simply witnessed too much.

We saw how quickly the Jewish world mobilized in the early days – how people raised tens of millions of shekels to buy flak jackets, drones, medical kits, and night-vision goggles. They understood that the army’s standard issue wasn’t enough, and they stepped up to fill the gap.

I was privileged to coordinate between many people looking to donate such things and the units that needed them. Recently, however, I was approached by Jonathan Burkan, who introduced me to a donor with a vision: prevent PTSD and potential suicide among soldiers while providing them with positive tools to grow personally and professionally.

While he acts anonymously, his motivation is clear. This project is in memory of Daniel Edri, a reserve soldier who fought for months in Gaza, eventually developing PTSD and taking his life. Joined by additional kind-hearted people who wanted to support this mission, the donors’ message was clear: Just as better gear saves lives, better mental health care will too.

This week, we provided a combat team from the elite Duvdevan unit with two days of group sessions, treatments, ice baths, and breathing workshops, as well as time to relax and enjoy life at one of Jerusalem’s top hotels. Fresh off this pilot, we have been contacted by more soldiers voicing their need for such sessions and by partners who understand the value of such programs and want to be part of it.

I pray that enough people join so we can provide meaningful experiences and resources to every soldier who had to go through the horrors of war to protect us.

Israel’s security and Israelis’ well-being don’t end at the border. It continues in every home to which a soldier returns. If we fail to support them now through therapy, peer support, trauma programs, and long-term care, we will be counting the cost in years of suffering, broken families, and more names on tragic headlines.

We owe our brave soldiers more than a “thank you.” We owe them healing.