Thursday June 13 2024: Times of Israel: IDF Reservist with PTSD kills himself after callup order.

Eliran Mizrachi committed suicide after receiving a army reservist's emergency call-up (Tzav 8), just two days before he was supposed to report for duty, according to Israel's Kan News.

Eliran Mizrachi, an IDF reservist who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) took his own life last week, after being ordered to return to combat in the Gaza Strip. Mother says he returned from Gaza war ‘a broken man’

Eliran Mizrahi of Ma’ale Adumim was called into the reserves shortly after Hamas’s October 7 attack, when he was assigned to help clear the bodies of those murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the Supernova music festival. He was then sent into Gaza, where he served as a combat engineer until he was injured in April 2024.

According to Channel 12 news, Mizrahi was recognized as a disabled IDF veteran and diagnosed with PTSD, but received an order on Friday June 7 2024 to report for duty in Rafah two days later. He then took his own life.

He leaves behind a wife and four children. Mizrahi’s mother, Jenny, told Kan that he was injured twice during the seven months he was on duty, but that he refused to leave Gaza the first time he was wounded, insisting he wanted to continue protecting the country.

Hila Mizrahi, Eliran’s sister, told Channel 13 news that he had “gone through hell” in Gaza and that he refused to discuss many of his experiences from the war. “He had rockets fired at him, he saw his friends die, and he brought bodies back, and he still did everything for Israel,” she said.

As a result of his time in Gaza, Hila said, Eliran was injured physically and mentally and was told by a doctor that he would not be able to go back into combat.

“He was a happy, joyful, funny, positive, and optimistic person,” Jenny told Kan. “He was the leading light in our home and among his friends, and he came home different. We got back a broken man who was impatient with the kids. He was angry, and he had nightmares.”

Jenny expressed her frustration at how Eliran was treated following his PTSD diagnosis, saying he told her that psychiatrists treating him said he couldn’t be helped. Eliran’s sister, Shir, told Channel 12 that he had lost his soul to the war.

The Defense Ministry in April 2024 said 7,209 soldiers have been wounded during the current war, and 2,111 of them, or 29%, are suffering specific emotional harm. For 1,227 of those with emotional harm, or 60%, their emotional problems are their primary problem.

Prior to the war, there were about 62,000 wounded soldiers from all prior wars and battles, including about 11,000, or 18%, who had emotional harm. About 8,000 of those 11,000, or 70%, experienced emotional symptoms as their primary problem.

While post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the main diagnosis for those with emotional problems, Defense Ministry officials said they recognize and assist a variety of emotional disorders.

The ministry said it projects that by the end of 2024, about 20,000 more soldiers will be wounded during the year, and some 8,000, or 40%, will experience emotional harm. Ninety-five percent of the 7,209 wounded soldiers are male reservists under the age of 30, the Defense Ministry said.

An operator from the Israel's Ambulance & Emergency Service, MDA national call center, overwhelmed by the distressing calls during the horrific events of October 7 tragically succumbed to death by suicide. This incident, alongside recent news of over 50 deaths by suicide among the survivors of the Nova festival attack, underscores a deep-seated mental health crisis.

Prof. Gil Salzman, Chairman of Israel's National Council for Suicide Prevention, warns the following: "the Council was presented with data showing a significant increase in distress calls to Eran and Sahar hotlines by tens of percent, an increase in requests for assistance from the health funds and the use of tranquilizers and anti-anxiety drugs".

Back in December 2023 Israel's parliament convened a health committee to discuss the mental health response to the terror attack victims of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. "Do you know how many people have already committed suicide since October 7? People are unusually suicidal. There are many suicides," Director of the the Lotem Center for Treatment of Trauma at he Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Dr. Tzvia Zeligman, told the committee.

"People will do the deed and jump from one hotel or another" a resident of the Southern Israeli city of Sderot, testified at the health committee in December.

Also in December 2023 Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that suicide rates in Israel were on the rise. Israel's Mental Health Center Directors' Forum in a letter to the State Comptroller, warned that the mental health consequences of the war were worrying. "We are witnessing high levels of mental health morbidity, suicides". The Forum was urging the declaration of a state of emergency due to the increased rates of suicide and mental illness among Israeli's.

Israel's Ynet News reported that suicide numbers after October 7 were unusually high.

Martin Blackham Israel First TV Program www.israelfirst.org