Man who set himself on fire urged 'violent revolution'
Moshe Silman, who attempted to commit suicide by self-immolation at Saturday's social justice protest, transferred from ICU to burns unit at Sheba Medical Center. Doctors: His burns are very severe, we're doing all we can to save his life
Moshe Silman, who set himself on fire at Saturday night's social justice demonstration and as a result suffered third-degree burns over 90% of his body, was transferred on Monday from Intensive Care to the burns unit at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where doctors continued the battle to save his life.
"His situation remains critical," said Dr. Eyal Winkler, head of the hospital's plastic surgery department.
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"The good news is, he's still alive – but his burns are advanced and could lead to system failure. The situation is very dire and we're doing all we can to save his life."
Silman is transferred to the burns unit (Photo: Yaron Brenner)
Also on Monday, a clip of Silman talking with a member of the Haifa Front social movement surfaced in which he said he thought there needed to be "a violent revolution."
- For more on social unrest in Israel, click here
Silman said that he was living on a stipend of NIS 2,400 a month. "Do you know how abusive the National Insurance clerks are to people? One month they even stole 1,000 shekels from me. They didn't want to pay," Silman claimed in the clip.
Later, he was also filmed saying that the social justice movement must avoid identifying with any political side, and gave what appeared to be a hint of his intention to harm himself.
"Right now I don't allow myself to express my leftist opinions. I say – we'll take care of (that) later, if I'm still alive."
Silman's aunt, Yaffa, visited him Monday morning. "He was on top of the world, and five years ago began to go bankrupt," she said, recalling that until a few years ago he lived in a luxurious penthouse apartment in Jaffa.
Nevertheless, she said, "things deteriorated until he was left without anywhere to live," and he found it difficult to ask for assistance. "He always wanted to do things alone, his own way, without help from anyone. But at the end, when he didn't have any other choice, he took a friend up on his offer and left Tel Aviv to live with him in Haifa."
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