The Knesset's House Committee approved a bill on Sunday that would, for the first time, establish an official legal definition and status for former IDF soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of their military service. The legislation passed with support from both coalition and opposition lawmakers, a rare display of unity in a Knesset otherwise consumed by bitter fights over the haredi draft and the government's legislative agenda ahead of elections.
Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz, who chairs the committee advancing the bill, described its passage as a matter of historic justice for veterans who have carried the invisible wounds of combat, often for years, without formal recognition in Israeli law. The bill, once finalized, would grant veterans diagnosed with combat related PTSD a distinct legal status, one that acknowledges the particular nature of their injury as separate from other forms of disability.
Under the legislation, the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department would receive significantly expanded funding to develop and administer personalized treatment programs tailored to eligible veterans, moving away from the one size fits all approach that has long frustrated soldiers and their families. The bill would also broaden eligibility for benefits, compensation and entitlements available to veterans suffering from post trauma and to their families.
The legislation arrives at a charged moment. Just days earlier, combat veterans dealing with PTSD disrupted a Knesset House Committee hearing on the contentious Basic Law: Torah Study bill, confronting haredi lawmakers directly and demanding that the state address their needs before advancing legislation seen as shielding yeshiva students from military service. One veteran, addressing the committee, said he and 107 fellow veterans dealing with post trauma felt abandoned by the political system, telling lawmakers that "hugging us in the hallways doesn't do anything."
The PTSD bill still requires approval in second and third readings before becoming law, votes that are expected to take place this week as the Knesset races to close out its summer session ahead of elections scheduled for no later than October 27.
