Will Shakin, a 25-year-old American from Great Neck, New York, who volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces following the October 7 attack, died by suicide this week after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder linked to his combat service.
Shakin immigrated to Israel after October 7 and enlisted through the Mahal program for foreign volunteers. He served as a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion and fought in Gaza, where he lost close friends in combat. According to people close to him, the trauma from his service significantly affected his mental health.
According to Chaim Meizlish, a volunteer with the nonprofit Navigating, which supports lone soldiers facing mental health difficulties in the United States, Shakin was never formally recognized by the Israeli Defense Ministry as suffering from combat-related PTSD. The Defense Ministry required Shakin to return to Israel to appear before recognition committees, a requirement that posed a significant obstacle given that he had returned to the US to be near his family support system.
"Shakin's case reflects a broader problem faced by other lone soldiers," Meizlish told Israeli media. "There are dozens more soldiers suffering from PTSD who are not getting the help they need because they returned to their families."
During his military service, Shakin lived at HaBayit shel Benji, a residential facility that provides housing for lone soldiers. After his discharge, staff members at the facility contacted his parents due to concerns about his mental condition. However, the support provided by the IDF and Defense Ministry ended once Shakin returned to the United States.
Meizlish noted that roughly 1,200 cases involving Israeli combat veterans living in the United States are registered with support organizations, but only two Defense Ministry representatives are assigned to handle them.
Shakin's parents are seeking to have him buried at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Defense Minister Ofir Sofer pledged to assist the family in bringing their son to Israel for burial.
