A former young Israeli soldier who had previously fought for the regime committed suicide by setting himself on fire earlier this week after having his application for disability status denied.
Bar Kalaf, who served in the Israeli military from 2008 to 2011 and participated in the 2014 conflict in the Gaza Strip as a reserve, passed away on Thursday as a result of injuries he sustained when he set himself afire last Tuesday.
The Ministry of Military Affairs denied Kalaf’s request for disability status, leading to his suicide at the age of 33.
read more: Israel records sharp increase in suicide cases among military forces
His family claims that Kalaf requested recognition of his PTSD as a result of his military service.
His mother Kochava, speaking to Channel 13 News, claimed that her son “felt hopeless due to being unable to get help” and that a medical committee handling his request did not thoroughly examine his condition.
“You can’t take an 18-year-old boy for three years and assume nothing will go wrong or that no mental health problems will emerge. He’ll have to deal with life after [those three years in the Israeli military], she said.
According to the Ministry of military affairs, Kalaf’s request was denied because the doctors who were treating him determined that he did not have PTSD but rather another mental condition that was deemed unrelated to his military service.
A report from late last year showed that the number of suicides among Israeli military personnel was rising alarmingly.
14 Israeli soldiers have committed suicide since the start of 2022, according to a report released in December by the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. The number showed a significant increase over the previous five years. In total, 11 suicides were reported by the Israeli military in 2021, and nine were reported in 2020.
The Israeli government records 500 suicides annually, 100 of which involve young people between the ages of 15 and 24, according to information from the Information and Research Center of the Knesset Israel’s parliament.
