Combat vets toss piles of pills around Knesset meeting on suicides to highlight distress

A Knesset hearing on preventing suicide among soldiers and veterans turns chaotic as combat veterans pour bags of medications onto the table, loudly warning that there will be more suicides during the upcoming holiday season if something does not change.

“We’ve been crying out for years, the holidays will be a trigger for more cases,” one veteran yells as others toss boxes and bags of pills around the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee meeting, underlining the deep levels of distress many are dealing with and complaining that those who have experienced trauma have not been provided with adequate treatment.

הלומי הקרב זרקו תרופות בועדת העבודה והרווחה העוסקת במניעת אובדנות – "הכל זה אובדנות, מה אנחנו מחבלים!?" pic.twitter.com/MSsnXmSpyM

— ערוץ כנסת (@KnessetT) September 15, 2025

“Five years ago I warned you about these suicides. You did nothing. You did nothing,” the veteran says, referring to an apparent uptick in veterans and soldiers taking their own lives in the wake of fighting in Gaza.

Committee chairwoman Michal Woldiger (Religious Zionism) responds with exasperation that they can keep throwing pills if they want, but “we want to help you. I can’t run a discussion like this.”

At the beginning of the hearing, Woldiger said the increase in suicides was not unique to military veterans.

“The recent war has exacerbated the need and unfortunately we are seeing a sharp increase in the number of calls for help, in the sense of distress and in the number of suicides, both in civilian society and among those serving in the IDF. In previous discussions we have already warned of gaps in the areas of detection, prevention and treatment, but things have not been sufficiently advanced and improved,” she said.