Knesset passes law recognizing combat-related PTSD, expanding aid for disabled veterans

The Knesset votes 70-0 to unanimously pass a law formally recognizing combat-related PTSD as its own legal designation and establishing a statutory committee to provide exceptional assistance to disabled veterans and, in certain cases, their family members.

The law defines those with “combat-related PTSD” in the Disabled Veterans Law for the first time, requires the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department to provide treatment specifically tailored to them, and places the committee for exceptional assistance on a statutory footing.

Sponsored by coalition and opposition lawmakers, the bill passed its first reading unanimously last night and was fast-tracked through committee today with broad bipartisan backing.

The law’s explanatory notes state that “in recent years, and in light of the most recent military campaigns, soldiers and members of the security forces have increasingly faced complex physical and psychological injuries.”

“This bill is intended to recognize the unique nature of combat-related PTSD and to establish a committee to consider requests for exceptional assistance beyond the letter of the law,” it continues.

The law comes just one day after the coalition passed a series of controversial laws shielding ultra-Orthodox men from military service, including halting the arrests of draft dodgers and therefore freezing Haredi enlistment, and a Basic Law declaring Torah study a foundational value, even as Israel remains engaged in a prolonged multi-front war, during which the IDF has repeatedly warned of severe manpower shortages and the number of soldiers suffering physical and psychological injuries, including PTSD, has skyrocketed.