The Battle After the Battle: More Than 20,000 Wounded Veterans Are Looking for Work
Israel Defense Forces soldiers on the Lebanon border, March 22, 2026. / Flash90, David Cohen
Since October 7, thousands of Israelis have returned from a different kind of war. Some were wounded physically, some psychologically, and many in both ways. They left the hospital, returned from reserve duty, began treatment, tried to complete their studies, send out resumes, get to job interviews, explain gaps in their CVs, and above all, understand how to return to lives that kept moving while they themselves had stopped.
This challenge does not begin and end with compensation, medical treatment, or official recognition. For many IDF wounded, disabled veterans, reservists, and people dealing with post-traumatic distress, the real return to life also runs through work. Not just a salary, but a framework. A reason to get up in the morning. A sense of capability. A place where one can feel part of something again.
But precisely there, in the labor market, many of them encounter a complex reality. Employers do not always know how to approach the issue. Candidates do not know whether to tell, when to tell, or how much to disclose. Young people who were absent for long months because of fighting or rehabilitation are now competing for jobs against those who continued to gain experience. And within all this lies a painful feeling, they gave everything, but now they need someone to give them a chance.
The new division at the Disabled Veterans Organization
Rotem Phillips, head of the employment and education division at the Disabled Veterans Organization, describes a profound change in the composition of the population that now comes to the organization. According to him, until the Iron Swords War, the average age of disabled veterans and security-force disabled persons was over 60. Since October 7, more than 20,000 new members have joined, with an average age of 31, many of them reservists aged 20 to 40, and many dealing with post-trauma.
The Disabled Veterans Organization is the representative body for disabled IDF veterans and security forces personnel, and anyone recognized by the Rehabilitation Department at the Defense Ministry with 20% disability or more is automatically a member. Alongside its representative work מול the state, the organization operates Beit Halochem centers, which serve for many as a transition station between the hospital and the community, treatments, physical therapy, hydrotherapy, mental health treatment, rehabilitative sports, classes and community.
But in recent years, the understanding has sharpened that rehabilitation cannot stop there. "There is no rehabilitation without employment," Phillips says. According to him, the goal is for Beit Halochem to be a stop on the way to a full life, not the place where life stops.
An employment fair of the Disabled Veterans Organization / Nir Amos
Out of that understanding, the organization's employment and education division was established about two years ago. The division runs an extensive system of individual employment support, mentoring, job fairs, professional training and connections with employers. According to Phillips, more than 500 disabled veterans have already been placed in jobs through the division, which maintains ongoing contact with more than 300 employers.
At the same time, a WhatsApp community called "For Success" operates, with about 4,000 disabled veterans, where job opportunities, studies, training, workshops and job fairs are published. The state also provides assistance in the field of education. Those recognized with 20% disability or more are entitled, according to Phillips, to tuition funding from the Defense Ministry's Rehabilitation Department of up to NIS 35,000 per year, along with living stipends during their studies.
But here too, money alone is not enough. A student returning from long reserve duty, dealing with post-trauma or trying to study while following a treatment routine, often also needs support, accommodations and understanding from the academic institution.
"If someone gives me a chance, I'm all in"
Into this reality come stories like that of Philipp, 30, from Tel Aviv. He is recognized as an IDF disabled veteran because of post-trauma from regular service. After years of treatment and rehabilitation, he began studying mathematics at Bar-Ilan University, and on October 7 he was nearing the end of his degree. When the war broke out, he was called up for reserve duty, went into Gaza and was wounded by shrapnel in the eye in the first week. He later returned to his unit and, לדבריו, has since gone through seven rounds and about 400 days of fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.
The final year of the degree, which was supposed to end long ago, stretched to almost three years. "You go to reserve duty for three months in Rafah without phones, and then you have to come back to class. It's impossible," he says.
Today he is looking for work in hi-tech, algorithms or hardware, fields connected to his mathematics studies, but he is discovering that the path there is difficult. He sends resumes, and is assisted by an employment worker and a mentor from the Disabled Veterans Organization, whom he says do significant work with him and try to open doors. Still, he feels that the lack of work experience, alongside the designation as an IDF disabled veteran, causes employers to hesitate.
"It's clear to me that it's complicated for people when they hear 'IDF disabled veteran,'" he says. "But it's the opposite. If someone gives me a chance, I'm all in. The moment they give you a goal, that's what keeps you going."
For Philipp, as for many others, work is not only a professional goal. It is part of rehabilitation. "The moment you're at home alone and you don't have someone forcing you to come and do things, that's where the problems start," he says. "The depression, the anger, the post-trauma come out everywhere."
When trauma meets the labor market
Alongside the responses from the state and the Disabled Veterans Organization, social organizations are also working in the field to provide answers for those who do not always fit the official definitions. One of the main examples is NATAL, which assists people affected by trauma on a national and military background, including reservists, victims of terror attacks, survivors of parties, families of hostages and people experiencing post-traumatic distress even if they are not officially recognized by the Defense Ministry or the National Insurance Institute.
Shaked Arieli, a social worker and head of NATAL's personal development and career unit, explains that about 80% of those who have come to NATAL over the years are not recognized anywhere officially. Some do not seek recognition out of shame, some do not think they are entitled to it, some struggle with the bureaucracy, and some simply do not know how to define what they are going through.
NATAL's career field has been operating for about five and a half years, but since the war it has grown dramatically. According to Arieli, before the war about 200 people received support in the field, and today the number is about 2,000. In addition, the "Returning to Track" program, by Joint-Tevet in cooperation with NATAL, the Labor Ministry and the Tekuma Directorate, accompanies more than 1,000 additional war victims.
The model of NATAL does not focus only on finding work, but on how trauma meets a person in the world of work. Concentration difficulties, avoidance of team meetings, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, procrastination, a short fuse, lack of confidence or a decline in self-worth, all of these can turn the labor market into an intimidating arena. "We work on the skills that were damaged, just like you work on the body in a gym," Arieli says.
At NATAL, they offer professional career coaching, volunteer mentors, human resources managers who help write resumes and prepare for interviews, and training for employers as well. The message, in Arieli's view, is that employers are not "doing a favor" when they hire someone dealing with trauma. They can receive a committed, high-quality employee with abilities, provided they understand the complexity and know how to create a sensitive and adapted onboarding process. "If you are having difficulty restarting your career path, you are invited to contact us and join trauma-informed employment support," Arieli concludes.
NATAL's helpline provides assistance and emotional support for people affected by war and terror trauma 24/7 at *3362 and by chat on the website.
An opportunity to become part of something again
In the end, the question is not only what is owed to IDF wounded or people coping with trauma, but how Israeli society treats those who returned from the war changed. The state has expanded its services, the Disabled Veterans Organization has built an employment and education system, organizations like NATAL have developed unique models, and many employers are already stepping in. And still, for the person sitting in front of the screen and sending yet another resume, the road can feel very lonely.
Returning to the labor market is not a magic solution, but it can be a turning point. The right workplace, a manager who understands, proper support and someone willing to give a chance can become for war wounded and trauma survivors not just a career, but a meaningful part of the return to life.
Looking for work? Hundreds of open jobs are waiting for you on the JobNet website from the Walla group
