Two weeks after setting himself on fire outside the home of the Rehabilitation Department director in Moshav Neve Ilan, former police officer Vital Mishayev died of his wounds on Wednesday. Mishayev, a 45-year-old police retiree, had been diagnosed in the past with post-traumatic stress disorder and had been under the care of the Rehabilitation Department for many years.
After the incident, Mishayev was listed in serious condition. He was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital while sedated and on a ventilator, suffering from burns of varying degrees.
Mishayev had served as a patrol officer and was injured in 2013 when a mentally unstable man threw a stone that struck his head. As a result, he was recognized as suffering from PTSD and was granted a disability rating for that injury.
“I’m shocked, I’m shaking. I hoped it wouldn’t end like this, that they would fight for him," Mishayev’s friend, Aviv Levi, said after learning of his death. "I believe they did fight for him. It’s important to say that his family surrounded him with love from the moment he was injured and throughout his struggle. They took care of him and tried to help as much as possible. The outcome is tragic. The writing was on the wall. The organizations that were supposed to rehabilitate him slammed the door in his face.”
The Defense Ministry said in a statement that it "expresses sorrow over the incident and its tragic outcome, and our hearts are with the family. Vital Mishayev, a former police officer who had been treated by the Rehabilitation Department for 12 years, set himself on fire in front of a senior department official at the entrance to her home and jumped onto her car while she was sitting inside. Vital was offered all available rehabilitation assistance, including a broad financial safety net, medical care, and psychological support. The Rehabilitation Department is fully committed to caring for IDF and Defense Ministry veterans with disabilities. The choice to commit such a shocking and painful act of self-harm, as well as violence toward medical staff, is not a solution, even in moments of extreme crisis.”
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Protest in front of the Rehabilitation Department in Petah Tikvah in August
(Photo: Oz Moalem)
In recent years, several people suffering from post-traumatic stress have set themselves on fire. The most well-known case is that of Itzik Saidian, who set himself on fire in 2021 at the Rehabilitation Department offices to protest the treatment of combat veterans with PTSD. Saidian, who served as a soldier in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion and took part in the fierce battle in Shuja’iyya during Operation Protective Edge, has since undergone rehabilitation and now works to help other veterans coping with PTSD.
Following that incident, the Defense Ministry advanced the “One Soul” reform, which aimed, among other things, to expand treatment for PTSD victims. However, last year the State Comptroller published a report criticizing the program’s implementation, noting, among other issues, that most of the budget allocated for the rehabilitation of disabled veterans had not been used.