Israel hosts first-ever International Rehabilitation Conference in wake of Oct. 7
With war casualties on the rise, foreign experts explore innovative strategies to improve recovery processes
Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel
Global experts gathered in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to discuss new approaches to military rehabilitation and mental health recovery at Israel’s first International Rehabilitation Conference.
Some 16,000 Israel Defense Forces soldiers have been injured since Hamas invaded the Gaza border area on October 7, 2023, leading to a revolution in the ways Israel treats its wounded warriors.
The “Lifetime Partnership” conference, held at Tel Aviv University, hosted a wide range of international representatives, including “medical and rehabilitation experts from militaries, defense ministries, and health departments worldwide,” the Defense Ministry said.
International experts came from England, Thailand, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Canada.
With freed Hamas hostage Chen Goldstein-Almog in attendance, President Isaac Herzog opened the conference by discussing those still captive in Gaza.
“I am quite shocked how suddenly the issue of the hostages is no longer at the top of the priority list and at the top of the news — how can this be?” he asked, adding, “We must, throughout this entire time, not lose eye contact, as a nation and of course as a governing system, with everything related to bringing the hostages home, down to the last one.”
There are 59 hostages still in Gaza. Israel believes 24 of them are still alive — 22 Israelis, one Thai, and one Nepali. All of them are young men who were kidnapped on October 7, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and abduct 251, sparking the war in Gaza.
A ceasefire deal that saw the release of 33 hostages collapsed last week as the IDF resumed its fighting in the Strip, sparking mass protests across Israel.
Herzog also argued that the law currently does not provide adequate support for freed hostages and their families.
Goldstein-Almog later reiterated that point, emphasizing that released hostages are forced to “cope with numerous significant challenges in a short period,” one of which is the difficult decision of whether to return to work at the cost of losing government-provided benefits.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, the director general of the Defense Ministry, discussed the importance of Israel’s rehabilitation system: “The value chain of treating the wounded must be uniformly strong and well-connected in all its parts — not only during the critical trauma phase but also throughout the long, patient, and costly rehabilitation process.”
Sessions ranged from Israelis’ presentations on their research and technologies to panels of experts on the recovery process.
No scenario or response we had planned was relevant to the reality we encountered.
The Rehabilitation Department, which sits within the Defense Ministry, is responsible for reintegrating injured IDF veterans and security personnel into civilian life by providing them with social services and financial support.
Defense Ministry Deputy Director General and Rehabilitation Department Head Limor Luria described October 7 as a pivotal moment that reshaped the department’s approach, stating that “no scenario or response we had planned was relevant to the reality we encountered.”
This revelation led to the establishment of five new guiding principles.
First, Luria stressed a proactive stance: “We don’t wait for the injured to come to us.” By October 9, 2023, Rehabilitation Department teams were already deployed to 22 hospitals nationwide, ensuring that wounded soldiers began rehabilitation treatment within 48 hours of admission.
The department also shifted its focus from bureaucracy to recovery, adopting a “rehabilitation before bureaucracy” policy in coordination with the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization and the IDF Manpower Directorate. This approach allows injured personnel to bypass bureaucratic hurdles, such as medical committees, deferring evaluations for a year to ensure immediate medical and psychological care.
Third, the department operates on the principle that every wounded soldier requires individualized support. As a result, each patient under its care is assigned a dedicated representative to provide personalized guidance.
In addition, Luria highlighted the importance of proactive psychological rehabilitation. To help prevent cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, the department extends mental health support not only to the physically and psychologically injured but also to their families.
Finally, Luria underscored the necessity of cross-organizational collaboration. She stressed that rehabilitation is a shared national mission, requiring coordination between government bodies such as the Health Ministry and the IDF. “Nobody can accomplish the rehabilitation goal alone,” she said.
On Sunday, the Defense Ministry released new data on the war.
According to its report, some 66% of the 16,000 injured soldiers are reservists. Around 10,900 individuals sustained physical injuries, while half of all treated personnel experienced psychological distress, including 2,900 suffering from both physical and psychological injuries.
Among the total injured, 6% had moderate injuries, 4% were severely wounded, and 72 amputees have already received prosthetic limbs.
The ongoing conflict, which began with Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, has led to significant casualties, with more than 400 Israeli soldiers killed. In response to the escalating conflict, the IDF mobilized some 400,000 reservists, a number that reflects the heavy demands placed on the military.
The Rehabilitation Department currently cares for over 78,000 individuals from all of Israel’s wars and operations, including disabled underground fighters from the British Mandate era, before the establishment of the state in 1948.
Treatment of injured soldiers is expected to take a high economic toll, with the Rehabilitation Department calculating the annual cost at about NIS 150,000 per war casualty.
The Rehabilitation Department estimated that it will be treating approximately 100,000 wounded personnel by 2030, half of whom are expected to experience PTSD. To manage the growing number of cases, the department has launched a specialized customer service unit to simplify administrative procedures for wounded soldiers and security personnel.
