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IDF veteran Itzik Saidyan, who set himself alight outside a Defense Ministry office on April 12, 2021 (screenshot: Channel 12)
Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday said he was forming a public committee to plan reform of the ministry’s Rehabilitation Department for disabled veterans, days after an IDF veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder set himself alight outside the department’s offices in Petah Tikva.
Itzik Saidyan, 26, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
Gantz said the committee will be led by Ziv Shilon, an entrepreneur and activist who lost his arm during army service in 2012 when a bomb went off along the Gaza border.
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Israeli soldiers lay flowers and Israeli flags on the graves of fallen soldiers at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery on April 13, 2021, ahead of Israeli Memorial Day. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
A support group for Israeli veterans contending with trauma saw a surge in appeals on Tuesday, as Israel commemorated its fallen on Memorial Day and after an ex-soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder set himself on fire outside a Defense Ministry office that handles the rehabilitation of injured troops.
The Natal trauma support group saw a 300 percent jump in appeals in the past day, Channel 13 reported.
Most of the calls were from veterans of the 2014 seven-week military campaign known as Operation Protective Edge, when the IDF battled against Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip led by Hamas.
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Protesters hold signs reading, We are all Itzik Saidyan, outside the Defense Ministry s Rehabilitation Department in Petah Tikva, April 14, 2021. (Flash90)
Dozens of people gathered Wednesday for the morning’s Memorial Day siren at the site where an IDF veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder self-immolated.
Itzik Saidyan, 26, set himself alight on Monday in an apparent act of protest and desperation that shocked the country and drew attention to the plight of traumatized veterans.
The demonstrators standing outside the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department offices in Petah Tikva held signs with slogans including, “We are all Itzik Saidyan.”
An organizer of the event said she had been unable to stop thinking about Saidyan’s case.
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IDF veteran Itzik Saidyan, who set himself alight outside a Defense Ministry office on April 12, 2021 (screenshot: Channel 12)
The Defense Ministry on Tuesday pledged to improve its services for disabled army veterans, after an ex-soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder set himself alight outside its rehabilitation center.
Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Eshel said his ministry was responsible for driving Itzik Saidyan, 26, a veteran of the 2014 Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, to desperation.
Saidyan remains in critical condition after the self-immolation on Monday. The IDF Veteran’s Association said that Saidyan was frustrated over his treatment by authorities. He was recognized by the Defense Ministry as having 25 percent disability from his post-traumatic stress disorder, but had requested 50% recognition. The ministry had refused, saying at least a portion of his condition was due to childhood trauma, not his military service.