IDF veteran who self-immolated urges Knesset to prioritize combat soldiers, not Torah study

Itzik Saidyan, an IDF veteran who self-immolated outside the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department for wounded soldiers in 2021, tells a Knesset committee that the nation must give the highest priority to those who serve on the front lines.

“With all due respect to the value of Torah and military service, the correction that is most needed here is to give supreme value to those who went into battle, those who sacrificed their lives, who were willing to die,” Saidyan says in a passionate speech to the Knesset House Committee, as it debates the proposed Basic Law declaring Torah study a foundational value of the State of Israel.

“There are people who, in practice, are perhaps 10 percent [of the population] according to the data, who go into battle. They lost friends right before their eyes. They collected bodies. They sacrificed everything – everything – not in theory, in the line of fire,” he says.

חובת צפייה – איציק סעידיאן זועק, לוחם גולני והלום קרב, זועק מדם ליבו בחוק יסוד לימוד תורה – ״התיקון היחיד שצריך לעשות זה לקבוע כערך עליון את מי שיצא לקרב, את שהקריב את החיים שלו והיה מוכן למות!״ pic.twitter.com/8ZArZwes5I

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) July 5, 2026

“And you bring the Torah here, there’s no problem… but the first thing, the very first priority is the fighters, the ones who go into battle… those who were in the line of fire, who were injured… who lost part of their body and soul…. who feel that the state has forgotten them,” Saidyan says. “They need to feel every day when they wake up in the morning that the state appreciates and recognizes them.”

The proposed Basic Law is intended to shield Haredi draft evaders from sanctions and prosecution. Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted, despite a persistent IDF manpower shortage. Absent a constitution, Basic Laws in Israel have the highest legal status in the country.

Saidyan’s 2021 self-immolation attracted national attention to the plight of IDF veterans traumatized by events that happened during their military service. At the time, Saidyan spoke about his years-long struggle to receive the care he sought for PTSD, which he said stemmed from his service in the military.

The Defense Ministry warned last week that the Rehabilitation Department could “collapse” under the weight of the growing number of casualties, urging the government to immediately implement the recommendations recently made by a public committee.

The ministry said approximately 26,200 wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel have sought treatment through its Rehabilitation Department since the war began on October 7, 2023, and that the total number of wounded from all of Israel’s wars under the department’s care is expected to surpass 90,000 in 2026, a more than 40% increase within three years.