B'Yachad's plan for supporting our wounded warriors

The goal is to return wounded IDF and security forces veterans to their normal lives as quickly as possible – physically, emotionally, within their families, at work, and with dignity.

The plan is not intended to replace the Ministry of Defense Rehabilitation Division, but rather to strengthen it as it faces an unprecedented amount of work: shortening wait times, improving access to and the  exercise of rights, expanding support for families, strengthening mental health care, enabling a safe return to work, and establishing clear metrics and transparency.

The main challenge is that wounded veterans and their families are forced to navigate a long and complicated process involving medical committees, paperwork, rights, lawyers, treatment, employment, and housing.Instead of wounded veterans having to manage their own rehabilitation alone, the state must provide them with a clear, efficient, and supportive path through the rehabilitation process.

No. On the contrary.

The Rehabilitation Division is the central and essential body responsible for caring for wounded IDF and security forces veterans. However, today it is operating under an unprecedented burden. This plan is therefore intended to strengthen it by providing additional tools, manpower, technology, governmental partners, legal assistance, support for families, coordination with HMOs, and more.

Because medical committees are a major bottleneck. Once a disability has been formally recognized, the medical committee determines the degree of disability, which in turn determines the benefits and rights to which the wounded veteran is entitled.

When medical committees are delayed, the wounded veteran is left in limbo: they receive some support, but not the full range of permanent rights and benefits to which they are entitled. That is why we need a national effort to dramatically shorten waiting times.

Waiting times for medical committees can be shortened through a combination of several measures:

– Increasing the number of medical committees and the number of doctors serving on them.

– Setting public service targets for waiting times.

– Using digital tools and AI in simple and appropriate cases.

– Preserving a fully human committee in complex cases, appeals, or upon the request of a wounded veteran.

– Allowing doctors to focus on cases that genuinely require complex medical decision-making.

Digital decision-making support tools, such as purpose-built AI, can assist in simple and straightforward cases where sufficient medical information is available, allowing decisions to be made more quickly and consistently.

The goal is not to replace doctors, but to reduce the burden on the system, shorten waiting times, ensure greater consistency in the handling of similar cases, and spare wounded veterans from having to appear unnecessarily before a committee – an experience that can be difficult or traumatic.

No. In every complex or unclear case, in appeals, or when a wounded veteran requests it, the option of a fully human medical committee will be preserved. Digital decision-making support tools, such as purpose-built AI, are intended to assist in simple cases – not to replace human judgment in sensitive ones.

Legal assistance is necessary because exercising one’s rights before the Rehabilitation Division and medical committees requires knowledge, preparation, documentation, professional opinions, and an understanding of the legal process.

Wounded IDF veterans should not have to pay out of pocket for a lawyer in order to receive the rights to which they are entitled from the state. The plan will ensure that legal assistance is provided from the very first hearing, rather than just at the appeals stage.

An injury does not affect only the wounded veteran. It also affects their spouse or partner, children, parents, and in some cases their siblings.

Family members bear part of the burden of care as well as economic and emotional impacts, and may struggle to continue working or functioning as usual. That is why we need to move from an approach focused solely on rehabilitating the wounded veteran to one that supports the rehabilitation of the entire family unit.

The family rehabilitation basket will include:

– Ongoing support from a social worker for the wounded veteran’s spouse or partner.

– Couples and family therapy.

– Parental guidance.

– Support for children and teenagers.

– Support groups through educational institutions and local authorities.

– Employment support for the spouse or partner when the injury also affects their ability to work.

– Support during periods of hospitalization or prolonged rehabilitation.

A significant proportion of wounded veterans are coping with mental health conditions, post-traumatic stress, or a combination of physical and psychological injuries. Even when they are entitled to treatment, there are not always enough mental health professionals available in the public system.

The solution is to aggressively strengthen the public mental health system through the following measures:

– Designating mental health professions as occupations facing a shortage. 

– Increasing the number of psychiatry residency positions.

– Expanding training programs for psychologists, social workers, and therapists.

– Fast-tracking the integration of Israeli professionals and new immigrants trained abroad.

– Expanding remote mental health care.

– Coordinating reimbursement rates among public bodies so that they do not compete for the same professionals.

– Creating continuity of care between the Ministry of Defense, HMOs, the IDF, and local authorities.

Work is not just a source of income. It provides routine, identity, a sense of capability, independence, and contributes to mental well-being. For a young wounded veteran, returning to work can be a central part of returning to everyday life. But if going back to work results in a reduction in rights or benefits, it creates a disincentive that prevents people from trying to re-enter the workforce and reintegrate.

Through a gradual model that includes:

– An employment adjustment period during which eligibility for benefits is maintained.

– A gradual, rather than abrupt, reduction in benefits.

– Allowing a portion of employment income to be disregarded when calculating benefits during the return-to-work period.

– The option to return to full benefits if the attempt to return to work is unsuccessful.

– Tailored professional training.

– Support for employers and workplace accommodations.

The goal is not to force wounded veterans to work, but to enable those who want to and are able to return to work to do so without fear of falling off a rights and benefits cliff. 

Housing is part of rehabilitation. Many wounded veterans need handicapped-accessible housing or to live close to their families, treatment and rehabilitation centers, or their workplace.

That is why wounded IDF and security forces veterans should be integrated into existing government housing programs with clear and transparent prioritization.

– A dedicated allocation or priority status in government housing programs such as “Apartment at a Discount” / “Buyer’s Price,” similar to the priority given to reservists. Today, there is an absurd situation in which wounded IDF veterans who are unable to serve in the reserves because of their injuries are therefore ineligible for benefits provided to reservists – even though they were injured while defending the country.

– Apartments designed and built to be accessible or adapted for accessibility from the outset.

– Assistance with accessibility modifications.

– Prioritization based on the severity of the injury, functional needs, family circumstances, and proximity to treatment.

– A clear mechanism for veterans suffering from combat-related PTSD and for wounded veterans who are in the interim period before their injuries have been fully recognized.

The rehabilitation of wounded IDF veterans does not depend on the Rehabilitation Division alone. It also involves the Ministries of Finance, Health, Housing, Welfare, Justice and Economy, as well as the IDF, HMOs, and the private sector.

Without a coordinating body, each government ministry handles a different part of the process – and wounded veterans fall through the cracks. That is why we need a National Rehabilitation Directorate that will coordinate between the relevant bodies, remove barriers, and ensure implementation.

No. The National Rehabilitation Directorate will strengthen the Rehabilitation Division. It will neither replace nor bypass it. Its role will be to coordinate between government ministries, remove barriers, promote funding, establish decision-making mechanisms, and ensure that government decisions are actually implemented.

The war has created multidisciplinary issues that extend beyond the responsibility of the Rehabilitation Division alone, including legislation, the division of responsibilities between government ministries, legal assistance, and coordination with the National Insurance Institute, HMOs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, and other bodies.

The forum will identify barriers, develop practical solutions, and report regularly to the government. The goal is not to create “rule by lawyers,” but rather to provide a management tool that enables the government to implement its policies more quickly.

Because too many government decisions exist solely on paper. To make sure that does not happen here, we need public and transparent metrics and reporting.

The plan will be measured according to waiting times for medical committees, the extent to which wounded veterans are exercising their rights, satisfaction levels, staffing levels, return to work rates, rates of utilization of family support services, and rates of access to accessible housing. The plan we have developed includes a “Measurement and Transparency” component that emphasizes public reporting on treatment waiting times, staffing, satisfaction, and the exercise of rights.

Local authorities will serve as the community-based arm of the rehabilitation system: identifying physically and mentally wounded veterans within their communities, connecting them with treatment, supporting families, providing support groups, assisting them in exercising their rights, and connecting them with local employment opportunities.

The government will commit to the full and accelerated implementation of the “Nefesh Echad” reform within six months of taking office. This will include funding, staff positions, digital services, support for those dealing with post-traumatic stress, assistance to families, and ensuring information about rights is clear and their utilization is accessible. 

– Shorter waiting times for medical committees.

– A reduced bureaucratic burden on wounded veterans.

– An increase in wounded veterans exercising their rights.

– Legal assistance provided from the very first hearing.

– Expanded support for families.

– Increased availability of mental health care.

– An increase in the rate of wounded veterans returning to work.

– Long-term employment stability.

– Increased availability of accessible/adapted housing.

– Greater reported satisfaction with the support they are receiving among wounded veterans and their families.

The difference is that this plan is not simply about adding another staff position, another committee, or another source of funding. It establishes one clear overarching measure of success: how quickly a wounded IDF or security forces veteran can return to their normal life.

Every aspect of this plan – legal, medical, mental health, family, employment, and housing – will be measured against that one goal.