The "Battle Diamonds" forum sent urgent letters on Monday to the Rehabilitation Department, the defense minister, the defense ministry director general, and the board of the Disabled IDF Veterans Organization, after Channel 13 exposed recordings of the organization’s chairman, Idan Kaliman, criticizing combat veterans with post-traumatic stress.
In the letters, the forum demanded that Kaliman be removed immediately, that all understandings, correspondence, and steps taken with the Defense Ministry and the Rehabilitation Department regarding PTSD veterans be disclosed, and that the representation system for combat trauma survivors be reconsidered. The dispute intensified after recordings aired in Sunday night’s main news broadcast in which Kaliman was heard saying, among other things, that PTSD veterans are “a disgrace to the Disabled IDF Veterans brand.”
Many veterans with post-traumatic stress also complained of discriminatory treatment by the organization. They said, “We feel invisible, they do not see us.” The forum said this was not just an internal argument between organizations, but a “crisis of trust without precedent” requiring immediate intervention by the defense establishment. Forum chairman Nadav Virsh said it was time to stop sacrificing combat trauma survivors “on the altar of deals, interests and agreements made over their heads,” adding that Kaliman’s response was “shameful” and showed “zero accountability.” He said anyone unable to represent PTSD veterans is unfit to represent Disabled IDF Veterans.
The Disabled IDF Veterans Organization rejected what it called a distorted and biased portrayal of remarks made in a private conversation. It said the comments were aimed at a small group of people who systematically acted against the organization and were involved in threats, harassment and incitement, to the point that Kaliman had to move around with security. It stressed that the remarks were not directed at PTSD veterans or any other disabled veteran group, though it regretted if anyone was hurt or interpreted them differently.
The organization also defended its record, saying that under Kaliman, who was severely wounded in combat, it has advanced dozens of rehabilitation programs, including the Mor-Yosef committee recommendations, the One Soul reform, a dedicated trauma division, and the planned fifth Beit Halochem center. The Defense Ministry said rehabilitation is a national mission, noted that since October 7 about 25,000 new wounded have been treated, mostly with psychological distress, and said the rehabilitation budget has doubled to about NIS 10 billion, with plans to bring the Mor-Yosef recommendations to government approval.
