Just one week after the suicide of an IDF soldier in his training base on the Golan Heights, his comrades raised serious allegations of insensitive and disrespectful conduct from his commanding officers. Among other claims, the soldiers said they were forced to resume training on the same day and right near where the soldier took his life.
The military said they were still probing the matter and why the soldier committed suicide less than three months before completing his long and specialized training in special ops and before he was to join the fighting in Gaza.
But, after the event that shocked his comrades, some said he had been distressed and in under emotional stress and was not receiving adequate attention or care from his superiors.
After the suicide, soldiers who were being trained at the base were given a few hours with a mental health professional, but that was still in the initial period of shock. "When we really needed to talk to someone, three days later, we were not permitted to," some of the soldiers told their families. "Only after we begged were we provided access to a mental health specialist, but that was on Thursday, before we were released from the base so that we could pay a condolence call to the soldier's family."
The soldier took his life when he was on guard duty overnight in the base where he trained for urban warfare. Two members of his team found his body early in the morning and they too were ordered to resume training.
"The special ops commander came that same day and had a chat with us for 5 or 10 minutes. After that, it was down to a 25-year-old officer to deal with the following days," the soldier said. "We were ordered to resume the training schedule as if nothing had happened."
They had to train all night before they were released to visit the family in mourning. "Rather than giving us the time to come to terms with what had happened, we were trained with live fire and were punished if we failed to complete the drills," they said.
Some testified that an officer told them what they had experienced was minor compared to his experience in the war. "I lifted bodies of soldiers in Gaza and what has happened here is not so bad. Stop whining," he reportedly said.
The IDF denied that claim and insisted that the decision to resume training was in line with a policy adopted by the military that advocates for a quick resumption of routine after the loss of a comrade. "The same is applied in the units fighting in Gaza," military officials said. "It’s the most efficient way to deal with the pain and the emotional toll.
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According to data released earlier this year, 21 soldiers took their own lives in 2024, up from 17 the previous year—the highest numbers since 2011. Most of the 2023 cases involved reservists. The military said the rise was not statistically dramatic when considering the overall number of active-duty and reserve troops.