The newspaper “Yediot Aharonot” revealed that the number of Israeli soldiers injured since October 7, 2023 exceeded 18 thousand and 500, of whom thousands suffer from severe psychological damage, amid estimates of reaching the number of injured people 100,000 by 2028.
According to the newspaper, quoting reports and information about the Ministry of Defense, these injured soldiers “have left the service not only as members of the army but also from the labor market,” which affects the economy and society together.
The report also shows that by 2028 there will be 100,000 wounded and handicapped Israeli soldiers, at least half of them suffer from mental health problems, foremost of which is PTSD.
The newspaper confirms that this number was previously expected to be reached in 2030, but the acceleration in recording mental injuries prompted the authorities to reassess their systems, budgets and treatment plans.
Shocking numbers
In the details, according to the data disclosed by the Israeli army, more than 10,000 soldiers are still being treated from mental reactions and post -trauma, while only 3,769 soldiers were recognized as adapting to post -traumatic disorder.
It is more remarkable in these statistics, it is that there are more than 9 thousand soldiers who have applied for official requests to be recognized as psychologists this year only, and their requests are still being treated, according to the newspaper.
According to the report, these numbers mean that the number of officials is officially nominated to rise sharply in the coming months.
The report confirms that the current war caused an unprecedented rise in the number of psychologists, as in 2024, 1,600 soldiers were recognized that they suffer from post -traumatic symptoms, including 1512 men and 88 women, the majority of whom are reserve soldiers.
The Ministry of Defense also appreciates the year 2025 more critical psychological cases, despite the relative decline in the pace of military operations in the Gaza Strip, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
The report states, quoting psychological studies, that the effect of shocks often does not appear during the fighting, but rather explodes later after the operations stopped and soldiers return to their daily lives.
Deficiency and challenges
The report indicates that the biggest challenges facing the Rehabilitation Department at the Ministry of Defense is the acute shortage of medical staff qualified to deal with these numbers.
The ministry says it currently has one social specialist for every 750 patients, which makes almost impossible to provide effective personal care for each case. This is in addition to the general deficiency in the number of psychiatrists in the country.
The newspaper quotes the Ministry of Defense to create dozens of methods to deal with the exacerbation of the crisis, including the establishment of 10 rehabilitation areas, and the opening of an urgent psychological health unit in the intensive care style.
Also among the procedures, the conduct of urgent psychological response patrols, which works as a substitute for police cars, and responds to emergencies that include suicide attempts or severe psychological collapses, as the ministry indicates that these patrols sometimes deal with 3 to 4 accidents per day.
The rehabilitation department was also opened with 4 open houses near the wings of psychiatry in hospitals, all of which are currently full, in addition to a private house held in the “Hafeet” settlement for reserve soldiers who cannot stay in their homes because of their psychological crisis.
The report indicates that the “explosion” in the number of psychiatric patients in the army caused a huge increase in expenses that exceed billions of shekels, which are burdens that were not calculated in the defense budget.
