Ministry of Defense: 58% of Injured Soldiers Suffer from Mental Health Issues 

Roughly 22,000 soldiers wounded in the current war have been newly recognized by Israel’s Defense Ministry Rehabilitation Department since 7 October, with an unprecedented 58 percent of them suffering from mental-health injuries, according to new data released Monday. The figures were published to mark Israel’s annual day of recognition for wounded veterans and reflect the steep rise in long-term needs emerging from the conflict.

The department now treats approximately 82,400 wounded veterans. Of those, 31,000 are classified as coping with mental-health conditions, most commonly post-traumatic stress. Officials say the system receives about 1,500 new applications every month, and based on current rates, the total number of recognized wounded is expected to surpass 100,000 by 2028. Nearly half of those are projected to require psychological treatment or ongoing therapeutic support.

To manage the surge, the ministry has increased its rehabilitation budget by 53 percent to 8.3 billion shekels. Mental-health services account for roughly half that sum. A public committee headed by Shlomo Mor-Yosef is now examining further changes to the framework, including expanding treatment access and updating long-term care models.

The report also included updated figures on physical disabilities among veterans. There are currently 873 wheelchair users, including 132 wounded during the present war; 1,061 amputees, 88 from this conflict; and 115 blinded soldiers, with 5 cases linked to the ongoing fighting. In total, 612 veterans have been recognized with a “special disability level” of 100 percent or higher, 64 of them from the current war.

The demographic breakdown highlights the changing character of Israel’s wounded community: 49 percent of the newly recognized are under age 30, and 63 percent are reservists. Women account for just 9 percent of those treated overall, while about a quarter of all recognized veterans entered the system within the last two years.

Alongside medical and therapeutic care, the ministry reported expanded vocational and social rehabilitation initiatives, including outdoor-training programs, cyber-training tracks, and high-tech employment schemes under the “We Win With You” initiative. A dedicated unit, Dror, is now supporting 30 released hostages and their families, and nearly 4,000 veterans receive ongoing assistance from assigned rehabilitation officers.

Officials said the data illustrates the war’s long-term human cost and warned that demand for mental-health and rehabilitation services will continue to grow sharply in the coming years.