New public committee to examine treatment, rehabilitation of wounded soldiers

By Stav Levaton

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7 September 2025, 10:10 am

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Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel

IDF troops evacuate soldiers wounded by a Hezbollah missile attack against the the Ramim Ridge area, near the border with Lebanon, September 19, 2024. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

In a joint statement, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announce the creation of a public committee to formulate recommendations to expand Israel’s national response for treating and rehabilitating wounded IDF soldiers, amid what officials describe as the fastest rise in casualties in the history of Israel’s wars.

According to the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department, by 2028 some 100,000 wounded are projected to be under its care, including around 50,000 suffering from psychological trauma. These figures encompass all veterans from all wars — soldiers from the ongoing conflict along with those injured in previous ones.

In March, it was reported that the department was caring for some 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.

The committee will be chaired by Shlomo Mor-Yosef, chairman of Leumit Health Services, with Yitzhak Shapira, deputy director of Ichilov Hospital, serving as his deputy. Its members will include representatives from the IDF, the Finance Ministry, the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department, the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization, and leading experts in rehabilitation and psychiatry.

It will examine and recommend improvements in key areas, including recognition processes for wounded veterans, streamlining medical and psychological rehabilitation, employment integration, family support systems, and allocation of budget and manpower resources.

“IDF wounded are the emissaries of us all, and the national duty is to ensure them full rehabilitation, to accompany and support them all along the way,” Katz says. “The decision to establish the public committee stems from a deep understanding of the costs of war and the growing need… We will leave no one behind.”

“Our obligation to IDF wounded is absolute,” Smotrich adds. “They are the moral spearhead of the people of Israel, and our responsibility is to provide them with the best treatment, rehabilitation, and support, without unnecessary bureaucracy or delays.”