A former IDF soldier who served as a clerk in the chief of staff's bureau and was required to do various physical jobs, including lifting sacks of fruit and vegetables to the Kirya army base's 14th floor, is demanding the military recognize him as a disabled veteran on the grounds that the tasks he was handed, despite his complaints of serious pain, caused him a back injury which led to his discharge.
The soldier was enlisted to the military in August, 2008, and was classified with a non-combat profile. He underwent a shortened basic training period, and according to a deposition that he filed with the Defense Ministry's medical board, he was even required to carry out various physical tasks that caused him pain in his back and left foot during boot camp.
After completing basic training, the soldier was placed in office of Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi ,where he worked as a clerk at the top command's secretariat. According to the former soldier, he was the only one of the 20 soldiers working in the bureau to be tasked with physical labor.
Among other things, the soldier said he was ordered to organize the chief of staff's waiting room, which contained "dozens of cases of books, as well boxes that held bronze and metal statues."
The deposition, which was filed on the soldier's behalf by Attorney Eli Saban, said the job of organizing the boxes demanded great physical effort from the soldier. The document added that he was ordered to carry a delivery of goods to the chief of staff's office every day which included "at least seven liters of milk and five kilograms of fruits and vegetables."
The soldier noted that after he complained to his commanders that the tasks he was handed were causing him back pain, he received an exemption from lifting goods. Three months after he began his service in the Kirya, his pain grew stronger, to the point where he had difficulty sitting on a chair.
He was treated by a military physician, and due to the severe pain, he was not even able to do his job while seated. A medical examination revealed problems in his back, which led to the decision to reduce his military profile and he was hospitalized at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
The pain would not subside, and he was released from the military for six months, until it was decided at the end of 2009 to discharge him from the army after he was deemed unfit to serve due to a disc herniation.
As part of his treatment, he was required to undergo a complicated operation. "Today I suffer from daily pain that limits my functioning in all aspects of life. I have a loss in feeling and sensitivity along my spine, I do not work, and I am unable to travel long distances," the deposition said.
"I am also limited in movements such as standing or walking for prolonged periods, I am unable to bend and lift things due to the disc herniation, which was, without a doubt, caused due to my military service during which I was ordered to lift heavy objects, both during basic training and during my time as a clerk in the chief of staff's office," it added.