IDF lone soldier from Norway dies from gunshot wounds in apparent suicide
Israeli host father describes in-training paratrooper Cpl. Dan Phillipson as 'disciplined, outstanding' soldier who had wanted to enlist since high school
An IDF paratrooper in training who apparently attempted suicide last week has succumbed to his wounds, the military said Sunday.
Cpl. Dan Phillipson was a so-called lone soldier from Norway, moving to Israel a year ago, without his family, to serve in the military.
On Tuesday last week, the IDF said the soldier was found with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at a training base in southern Israel.
He was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Friday.
The IDF said a Military Police investigation has been opened into the incident, the findings of which will be sent to the Military Advocate General for review.
Phillipson lived on Kibbutz Be’erot Yitzhak as part of the Reut lone soldiers program, according to a Facebook post by Yosi Shnior, who was Phillipson’s host father as part of the program.
Shnior said that Phillipson grew up in Oslo as part of a religious Zionist family, and wanted to enlist in the IDF since he was in high school.
During his training as a paratrooper, “he proved to be a disciplined, outstanding and beloved soldier by his comrades,” the post read.
His funeral was held at Mount Herzl’s military cemetery at 3 p.m. Sunday.
In the past two weeks, four soldiers, including an off-duty reservist, have died by suspected suicide, bringing the total to 19 such cases since the beginning of the year.
During the ongoing war, the military has seen a rise in suicides among soldiers.