The team for treating soldiers with battle shock: "Only the IDF has the knowledge"

The battle shock sufferers protest, archive (Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Flash 90)

After it was announced last night (Saturday) that the Ministry of Defense intends to establish a professional team to examine the recognition processes of requests for combat shock recognition, the heads of the lobby in the Knesset, Members of Knesset Michael Biton and Yitzhak Kroizer, applaud the initiative and call for representatives from the IDF to be involved in it.

"We applaud the Ministry of Defense for its announcement of establishing a team to examine the recognition procedures for veterans suffering from combat shock. This follows our demand made during the emergency discussion we held this week in the Knesset."

As mentioned, this past Tuesday, the two [members] held an emergency discussion in the lobby, under the demand for the establishment of an emergency team composed of various ministries, aimed at identifying and assisting disabled IDF veterans, veterans suffering from combat shock, and individuals facing high-risk mental health issues during their recognition process. The discussion was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Defense, headed by Head of the Rehabilitation Branch, Limor Luria, as well as representatives from veterans' organizations helping those with combat shock and disabled IDF veterans.

Biton and Kroizer in discussion (Photo: Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash 90)

"We will continue to follow"

"As was also raised in the discussion, we emphasize the importance of including a significant and senior representative from the IDF on the team. The IDF can and should be proactively involved in identifying and supporting soldiers and fighters who have experienced traumatic and combat-related situations and are at risk of severe distress. Only the IDF possesses the knowledge of what occurs on the battlefield and is familiar with the soldiers, thus it cannot be done without its participation. We will continue to monitor the implementation of actions by the Ministry of Defense and the IDF on this crucial matter, and we will invite the team that will be established to present its work and conclusions at the lobby's follow-up discussion that will be held soon."