Izik Saidian, a former Golani fighter and survivor of the 2014 armored personnel carrier disaster in Shajaiya, says the October 7 war has exposed how deeply trauma is affecting Israelis. In an interview Monday at ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth’s "State in Post-Trauma" conference, he said his first thought on the day of the Hamas massacre in the Gaza border area was not about himself, but about the country’s mental state. "The first thing that came to my mind was the mental state we, as a nation, are going to experience," he said.
Saidian became a symbol in 2021 when, one day before Memorial Day, he set himself on fire outside the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department offices in Petah Tikva to protest the treatment of wounded veterans. The act shook Israel and helped push a broad reform in PTSD care. After two intense years of rehabilitation, including hospitalization at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, he recovered and founded the "B’Gova HaEynayim" association, which now supports soldiers and veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress.
He said he sees almost daily how widespread the problem is. "There is hardly a day that I do not meet people who went through trauma and turn to me for help," he said. He argued that authorities wrongly view PTSD as all or nothing. "We see post-trauma as 100 percent or zero, but most people are in the middle," he said, adding that many need a place to process what happened without formal recognition or disability status. He said the group now supports about 200 participants in five active groups and hopes eventually to work with the Rehabilitation Department, though that cooperation has not yet materialized.
Saidian said the association uses nature, surfing, and gardening as part of healing. He compared planting a seed to recovery, saying it must almost die before it can live again. He also said being helped by someone who has been through the same thing is especially powerful. "The best doctor is the one who went through the same experience," he said. Asked if he regrets the self-immolation, he replied, "I am sorry for what I did, but not for the result. Without it, I would not have the full and meaningful life I have today." He said he wants to keep expanding his mission, become a father and family man, and teach his future children that dreams can come true and that people should be kind to one another.
