A former Israel Police officer suffering from PTSD set himself alight outside the home of a senior official in the Defense Ministry’s rehabilitation department on Friday.
The former officer was transported to a hospital by medical staff, according to the Defense Ministry. Medics said the officer is in serious condition.
The officer, a man in his 40s, had long been known to the rehabilitation department for physical and psychological injuries sustained in 2013, when a mentally ill person threw a stone at his head. He retired from the police nine years ago.
Over the years, he regularly protested outside the home of a senior department official, was accused of assaulting her, and was issued a restraining order barring him from approaching her residence.
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In 2023, a separate restraining order was issued against him involving the chairman of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization.
Before setting himself alight, the former officer repeatedly demonstrated outside the senior official’s home, demanding that the department recognize him as 100 percent disabled. He is currently classified as having 30 percent disability due to PTSD, with additional percentages for physical impairments from his injury.
About a month ago, he was indicted for allegedly attacking the senior official in a Rishon Lezion shopping center parking lot, where he reportedly pulled her hair and punched her.
The senior official also testified at an Israeli court that the former officer had previously acted violently toward her at a Defense Ministry facility in the central Israeli city of Rehovot. According to her statement, beginning October 7, 2024, he loitered daily outside her home, harassing her, her family, and neighbors. She said she had initially tried to help him – even inviting him to join her family for dinner on the Jewish fast day of Yom Kippur – but later filed a police complaint through the ministry’s security officer, alleging that his presence was intended to intimidate her and pressure her into granting him benefits.
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A Magen David Adom ambulance. Credit: Naama Grynbaum
A Magen David Adom ambulance. Credit: Naama Grynbaum
She further claimed that he hurled insults and shouted at her and her neighbors, saying, “Crime family, just wait and see what I’ll do to you.” During court proceedings, the senior official testified that his behavior had become increasingly aggressive.
“The neighbors are commenting, and my children – it’s very difficult,” she said. “He’s an unpredictable person.”
Following the hearing, a judge issued an order barring the former officer from coming within 500 meters of her home and prohibiting him from following her.
In recent years, several protests have been held by IDF veterans with psychological injuries, who argue that even in cases of severe PTSD, they are not recognized as 100 percent disabled – the highest classification, which, among other benefits, provides eligibility for a housing grant of more than three million shekels ($920,000).
The Defense Ministry’s rehabilitation department maintains that it operates in accordance with the law, and that any change to the current policy would require legislative amendment by the Knesset.
The rehabilitation department currently assists more than 82,000 people, including over 31,000 wounded veterans coping with mental health issues. Of these, more than 20,000 participated in the Gaza war, about 55 percent of whom are dealing with psychological trauma.