Disabled IDF vet sets himself on fire

A 26-year-old disabled IDF veteran arrived at the offices of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division in Petah Tikva and set himself on fire on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the ministry reported.

Defense Ministry security guards acted immediately to provide first aid and called Magen David Adom services for assistance. The man was taken by ambulance to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer.

MDA medics classified him as being in severe condition and suffering from intense burns which cover his entire body.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that the man is diagnosed with PTSD, after being part of the combat in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014.

An initial ministry investigation shows that the man pulled out a bottle of flammable substance, poured it over himself, and set himself on fire at the entrance to a building belonging to the ministry.

The man was identified by

Channel 12 News as Itzik Saidian, who had been interviewed in the past, talking about his experiences in the battle of Shajai’a in the Gaza Strip, and about the hardships of getting Defense Ministry recognition as PTSD patients.

The ministry said that both Defense Ministry Benny Gantz and the ministry’s director-general Amir Eshel were informed of the incident, and ordered to open an investigation into it.

President Reuven Rivlin said he was praying for Saidian’s recovery.

“Among our sons and daughters who came back from the battlefield, there are many – too many – who can’t stop the battle. We see you. We feel your pain,” he said.

“Even when the wounds of the body heal, even when the physical pain ends, there are people who constantly come back to the day-to-day battle of life.

“We owe Itzik, and all of our other children that are still fighting, the existence of the State of Israel. We are in charge of their future,” Rivlin said.