IDF drives troopers to suicide, self-immolation

[yankeedoodle]

IDF reports 31 fatalities in 2021, a slight increase; suicide still leading cause
Military figures show at least 11 soldiers took their own lives, 10 killed in car crashes and one in combat
https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-reports-slight-rise-in-fatalities-in-2021-with-31-deaths-leading-cause-suicide/

Suicide remained the leading cause of death in the military in 2021, with at least 11 soldiers believed to have taken their own lives and another two whose deaths are currently designated as accidents but which may also have been suicide, Brig. Gen. Yoram Knafo, chief of staff of the IDF Manpower Directorate, told reporters.

Of the 11 soldiers believed to have died by suicide, three were members of the Ethiopian community, far above the number that would be expected based on their representation in the population. One of the two additional people who may have died by suicide was also Ethiopian.

Knafo said the military was aware of the issue and was working to better address it, while trying to not stigmatize soldiers from the Ethiopian community.

A number of studies in Israel have found a higher incidence of suicide among Ethiopian Israelis than the general population. A Health Ministry report from 2020 found that Ethiopian immigrants were 4.1 times more likely to die by suicide than Israeli-born Jews.

The number of suicides in the IDF in 2021 marked an increase over the previous year, when nine soldiers were believed to have died by suicide, though Knafo said that overall, the number of suicides in the military has held steady at roughly 10 each year over the past four years.

In recording, army vet heard speaking for first time since self-immolation
PTSD-afflicted former soldier Itzik Saidyan, who set himself on fire in April to protest alleged neglect by state, issues well-wishes to medical staff on national Doctor's Day
https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-recording-army-vet-heard-speaking-for-first-time-since-self-immolation/

A former soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder who has been hospitalized since lighting himself on fire in April in protest was publicly heard speaking for the first time on Tuesday.

Itzik Saidyan self-immolated to protest alleged neglect by authorities in a case that prompted a national reckoning over care for military veterans.

Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, where Saidyan is hospitalized, released a recording of Saidyan thanking medical staff in honor of Israel's national Doctor's Day.

"Hello dear doctors. I, Itzik Saidyan, want to wish you a happy and joyful day and to thank Sheba hospital, the Burn Unit and all the doctors, Prof. [Yosef] Hayek and Dr. [Moti] Haratz, and all the nurses," Saidyan says, sounding slightly out of breath.

Saidyan's condition has improved significantly in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, he went outdoors for the first time in a wheelchair. Saidyan was brought out of his coma in September and had begun breathing on his own months before.

Saidyan set himself on fire outside the Petah Tikva offices of the Rehabilitation Department for disabled soldiers, after years of struggling to receive the care he requested for post-traumatic stress disorder, which he said stemmed from his service in the Israeli military.

His self-immolation has brought the Defense Ministry's treatment of wounded veterans under intense scrutiny.

According to the IDF Veteran's Association, 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.

Saidyan served in the Golani Infantry Brigade during 2014's Operation Protective Edge. He participated in fighting in Shejaiya, a neighborhood in Gaza City that saw some of the fiercest clashes in the conflict.

Veterans and their advocates have long maligned the rehabilitation department as providing woefully insufficient care and subjecting applicants to a bureaucracy so convoluted and tortuous that many were required to hire expensive lawyers to help them navigate the system.

After Saidyan's self-immolation and the accompanying outcry, the Defense Ministry sought to implement reforms that it had for years been considering, but lacked the political will to carry out.

In May, the government announced that it had reached a compromise on a Defense Ministry plan to reform treatment for wounded veterans.