The Next Suicide Is Already Planned. PTSD Vets Say: “We’re Screaming Alone”
They risked their lives for the country. Now, abandoned and broken, they're screaming for help before one more brother-in-arms puts a bullet in his head.
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Thursday, in front of the IDF Headquarters in Tel Aviv and the Rehabilitation Division in Petah Tikva, one of the fiercest and most heartbreaking protests in recent Israeli memory erupted. Dozens of former combat soldiers, civilians who paid the price of war in their souls and not just in their bodies, took to the streets to cry out. Not with pleas, but with fury. Not with requests, but with a blunt demand: stop the abandonment. Prevent the next suicide. Finally recognize the wounds that don’t bleed but destroy from within.
“We’re fighting for our lives after we fought for the country. But this time, we have no backup,” says Shamir Benita, a reservist combat soldier, activist with the "Combat Diamonds Forum," and one of the leading voices in the protest. “There are young Israeli soldiers coming back from combat zones, and the system just hands them pills and hopes they’ll be okay. That’s not a malfunction; it’s a moral failure.”
No Definition. No Rehabilitation. Just Silence.
Despite the much-praised “One Soul” mental health reform, Israel still has no legal definition for PTSD in soldiers. The result? No recognition, no uniform criteria, and no accountability. “What is a combat response? What is PTSD? There’s no definition. We fall between the cracks, and we’re forced to stay silent so people won’t say we’re imagining things.”
And the system? It responds with silence, or worse, abandonment: “If you’re not physically wounded, you have no rehabilitation track. You’re handed cannabis, maybe a psychiatrist, and told ‘good luck.’ You’re alone. A 21-year-old kid carrying hell in his head, completely alone.”
Demand: A National PTSD Authority
The protesters are calling for the establishment of a national authority for PTSD treatment — a permanent, government-run body that operates regardless of politics. “Just like there’s a national authority for drug addiction, why isn’t there a body that treats those who stared death in the eyes so we could sleep at night?”
And today? “There are no positions, no doctors, no learning system. One social worker per 900 disabled veterans. No one is there to tailor a recovery plan.”
Stigma Is a Wound of Its Own
Physical wounds get salutes. Mental ones get judgment. “If you’re missing a leg, people stand for you. If you’re quiet, withdrawn, locked in, you become a burden. That’s why we demand a combat badge for PTSD victims too. Not for glory, but for recognition. To remove the shame. To break the silence.”
The War Ends, but the Explosions in the Mind Continue
Shamir describes a familiar pattern: “In the war, you’re strong. You have purpose. People around you. But when you get home, you’re alone. And no one calls. No one asks. No one checks.”
He adds: “It doesn’t have to be an injury. Just spending a month in Gaza under constant threat. Watching a friend explode in front of you. When you come back, the brain keeps replaying the horror. And there’s no one to talk to.”
“The Next Suicide” Isn’t a Metaphor. It’s a Statistic.
57 combat veterans took their lives last year. Some were still in uniform. Others had long left. “The next suicide is someone sitting at home right now, silent, with pills and pain and guilt. He doesn’t think he’s a hero. He thinks he’s a burden. And then he decides to end it.”
Who’s Responsible? Everyone.
Shamir lays the blame clearly: “The army sent us. Now it needs to bring us back. The state knows there’s a problem, so it must create a system. No excuses. No delays. We need a real framework. Not donations. Not NGOs. The state.”
Final Message: Don’t Die Quietly
“To every soldier, every fighter — you’re not alone. Don’t die in silence. This is not the end. PTSD is a wound. You can live with it. You can get help. Just ask. Don’t stay silent. Don’t be ashamed. Just like you never gave up on the battlefield, don’t give up on life.”
The protest of Israel’s combat PTSD victims is not just a news story. It’s a collective scream from people who never really came back, no matter how intact they look. Now they demand just one thing: that the State of Israel stop looking away and start fighting for them the way they once fought for it.