Photo Credit: Haim Zach (GPO)
President Rivlin at the ceremony for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Terrorism at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, April 13, 2021.
President Rivlin spoke on Tuesday at the ceremony that launched Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Terrorism at the Western Wall in Jerusalem and noted that “two periods in the Jewish-Israeli calendar are days of awe for us. One is in Tishrei, and the other is in Nissan and the beginning of Iyyar. Alongside the pillar of clouds, the clouds of respect and splendor of Tishrei, stands the pillar of fire rising into the firmament â the fire of battle and campaign, the column of memory â between Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Haatzmaut. âNeither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the peopleâ (Exodus 13, 22).”
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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.
Israel: ex-soldier s self-immolation after trauma of 2014 military offensive middleeastmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from middleeastmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Itzik Saidian, 26, a disabled former soldier of the Golani Brigade, is in critical condition after setting fire to himself at the offices of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division. A friend said: “He set himself on fire in despair; those who are in charge of rehabilitation made it too hard for him.”
Saidain was diagnosed with PTSD, after seeing combat in an Operation Protective Edge battle in Gaza in 2014, in which 13 soldiers were killed. The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi blamed the division for the tragedy and lamented the fighters “whose injuries cannot be seen but are carried for many years.” Saidan’s commanders arrived at his hospital bedside on Monday night as medics fought for his life.