The mental crisis in the IDF continues to escalate as the length of the wars and the scale of the crimes the soldiers are committing mounts:
1) At least ten active-duty soldiers have taken their own lives since the start of 2026, six of them this month alone. Three additional reservists who served during the war also died by suicide this month while not on active duty, along with two police officers. Before the wars, the average was 12 military suicides per year.
2) The problem is even more severe than these numbers indicate. The IDF's official figures don't include soldiers who died by suicide after being discharged. The army acknowledged at least 15 such cases by late 2025, with at least four more since, including three this month. Cases of drug or alcohol overdose deaths among distressed veterans have also been identified.
3) The army is not taking it seriously. It canceled psychological debriefing days for reservists in February, mental health officers are less present in the field, commanders have in many cases blocked soldiers from receiving treatment or pressured unfit soldiers to serve, and some combat-wounded soldiers were re-drafted without any fitness evaluation.
4) There is a clear connection between combat participation and some suicides, including cases involving a D9 operator diagnosed with PTSD, a tank fighter, drone operators, and elite unit fighters. Not coincidentally, these are the roles where you are most likely to commit war crimes.
This is just one of several signs that the army is collapsing onto itself due to fighting too long, in too many places and committing too many crimes. The soldiers are being used as pawns to keep Netanyahu in power and to annex more territory for Israel. Their lives don't matter to Netanyahu any more than Palestinian lives do.