Reservists Warn Israeli Military Is Not Ready for Coming Wave of PTSD Cases

Reservists familiar with the issue say the Israeli military and the Defense Ministry are struggling to keep up with a growing number of reservists seeking mental health care after nearly three years of intense fighting on several fronts. The warnings were reported by The Jerusalem Post.

According to the sources, thousands of reservists who finished long combat deployments are traveling abroad to join workshops and receive treatment from private nonprofit organizations. One source argued that the IDF should work more closely with these groups to keep standards of care consistent. "It would have been preferable for the IDF to initiate a process with the nonprofit organizations and private bodies to minimize the gaps in diagnosis, oversight, and ultimately treatment," the source said.

Reservists also point to a gap between regular-service soldiers and reserve personnel. Soldiers in regular service receive ongoing support, they say, while reservists usually get limited help near the end of their deployments, and even that is not always available. Military sources serving in the reserves claim that once reservists have "become civilians," the military considers its responsibility fulfilled and leaves them to deal with bureaucracy and thin support services alone.

The specialists fear the worst is still ahead. One warned that the psychological shockwaves among hundreds of thousands of combat soldiers and reservists "are only beginning and are expected to intensify in the coming years." Estimates from the IDF and the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department suggest that tens of thousands of soldiers, mostly reservists, will develop PTSD because of the war. More than 7,000 soldiers, most of them combat troops, have already been officially recognized as having psychological disabilities from their service.

The IDF Medical Corps runs the Ta'atzumot Clinic and the Combat Stress Reaction Unit. The sources say the capacity of these services has not kept pace with demand, especially while fighting continues. They also describe a dangerous trend of combat soldiers and reservists going straight to private providers, nonprofits and alternative programs overseas instead of the military's own system. The Ta'atzumot Clinic reports that about 65% of its patients return to service, but the sources questioned whether that figure reflects the full picture or only those who reached the front line of treatment.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit responded that the military gives the utmost importance to mental health care and has significantly expanded the capacity and quality of its services since the war began. It said its system was prepared for higher demand and has kept adjusting based on lessons learned. New clinics have opened across Israel, and a 24-hour hotline operates seven days a week. The IDF added that it does not wait for soldiers to come forward, and identifies those who may need help through structured debriefing sessions with units right after operational deployments.

On the Ta'atzumot Clinic, the IDF said it has grown its staff and added occupational therapy, a track for career personnel and an intensive outpatient program. Its patients generally have complex conditions that cannot be handled within their units, and treatment aims at rehabilitation and at assessing whether a soldier can keep serving, not at retaining personnel at any cost. The military stressed that the 65% figure covers only patients treated at the clinic, not all soldiers with post-traumatic symptoms.

The Combat Stress Reaction Unit, which also treats veterans and discharged personnel, has seen more than 5,000 new patients, kept waiting times short and widened access in northern and southern Israel, the IDF said. It works with the Defense Ministry. The Medical Corps said periodic patient surveys show most patients are satisfied. It also noted that some services fall under civilian bodies, including the Health Ministry, health maintenance organizations and the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department, and that Israeli law generally bars the IDF from treating civilians, except through the Combat Stress Reaction Unit.

The Medical Corps said it does not oppose releasing data on personnel with combat stress reactions, and that such figures are already published and will continue to appear in scientific publications and research. The IDF added that, after almost three years of exceptionally intensive reserve deployments, it has built a framework called the "Service Cycle." It reflects the view that reserve service is no longer a set period of mobilization followed by discharge, and can affect reservists, their families and their units throughout the year.