Loutre

Hundreds block major Israeli highway after military veteran self-immolates
Bar Peleg, Ido Efrati | Apr. 18, 2021 | 11:44 AM
▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-hundreds-block-major-highway-over-treatment-of-israeli-military-ve

https://img.haarets.co.il/img/1.9721969/1403855921.jpg?precrop=2144,1246,x24,y0&height=698&width=1200

Demonstration over the defense ministry’s mismanagement of disabled IDF veterans, in light of one former soldier’s self-immolation last week

Hundreds took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday calling for urgent reform to the Defense Ministry’s handling of handicapped IDF veterans, after a disabled ex-soldier set himself on fire last week.

The demonstrators, among them many disabled veterans, claimed that the rehabilitation wing’s actions infringe on their basic rights and provide them with poor care. The protest began in front of the Defense Ministry, but then temporarily blocked lanes of Ayalon Highway.

The protests were instigated by the self-immolation of 26-year-old Itzik Saidian last week. He was admitted to the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, in a serious condition with extensive burns.

The department’s behavior during their correspondences allegedly pushed him the edge of despair, a friend said.

On Sunday, Sheba Medical Center said that they completed Saidian’s operation.

Dr. Moti Haretz, an expert in the burns unit, said that “the planned operation, which lasted about 3 hours, has ended. This is a familiar surgery for this type of injury. The injured is recovering but is still in a very serious condition, on a ventilator and anesthetic, and we are continuing to fight for his life.”

The demonstrators in Tel Aviv, which obstructed Kaplan Street and temporarily Ayalon Highway, called for an end to what they described as the ministry’s “abandonment of the IDF’s handicapped.”

Idan Kleiman, chairman of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization, said that “the Defense Ministry’s Disability Rehabilitation Division is in a state of total complete, both in terms of its functionality and values” and slammed its “scandalous treatment” of handicapped veterans.

“It is time for a deep revolution and comprehensive reform,” he added.

Oren Koenig, a resident of Bat Yam, told of his case, said he served during two attacks and “tens of incidents” in Gaza. “Today my girls call me crazy, not a hero, because I suffer from PTSD. Who sees my wound? I argued with the Defense Ministry, but everyone ignores me. Whatever they give me is not worth what I went through,” he said

“I hope Itzik Saidian will be the last, because there are a lot more in line,” he concluded.

The Defense Ministry ordered an investigation into the case last week. In an interview with Kan Bet public radio last week, the ministry’s director-general Amir Eshel said his office is responsible for Saidian’s condition: “Itzik is a disabled soldier in our care, we are responsible, and I, as the director-general of the ministry, am responsible.”

“It is something that we will look at seriously, in depth, and in the understanding that this is an outcome that we must try in every way to prevent its recurrence,” he added.

Le ministère de la Défense épinglé par l’enquête sur le vétéran qui s’est immolé
L’enquête sur Itzik Saidyan, qui souffre de SSPT, a constaté qu’il a dû se battre contre une bureaucratie éreintante pendant des années et qu’il n’a reçu qu’une aide partielle
Par Judah Ari Gross 29 avril 2021,
▻https://fr.timesofisrael.com/le-ministere-de-la-defense-epingle-par-lenquete-sur-le-veteran-qui

(...) Saidyan, qui a servi dans la prestigieuse unité de combattants Golani de l’armée israélienne, avait été reconnu par le ministère de la Réhabilitation comme souffrant de SSPT à la suite de son service dans la guerre de Gaza de 2014, en particulier son temps dans la bataille sanglante de Shejaiya. Cependant, en 2018, le ministère ne l’a d’abord jugé handicapé qu’à 25 % en raison de son état, alors qu’il présentait des symptômes graves et des difficultés à s’intégrer dans la société, et qu’il soutenait qu’une partie de son SSPT était causée non pas par son service militaire, mais par des événements traumatisants de son enfance. (...)

À la suite de l’immolation de Saidyan, le ministère de la Défense a dévoilé un plan de réforme des soins de réhabilitation pour les anciens combattants blessés de Tsahal, en concentrant la plupart de ses efforts sur la rationalisation de la bureaucratie byzantine et la suppression des vérifications invasives des antécédents des personnes demandant une assistance.

Le ministère sera en mesure de mettre en œuvre certaines de ces réformes lui-même, tandis que d’autres nécessiteront des décisions du gouvernement pour aller de l’avant. Ces aspects ont été bloqués en raison de l’impasse politique, mais les responsables du ministère de la Défense affirment qu’ils pensent qu’il existe un consensus suffisamment large pour faire passer ces mesures.