The committee, headed by MK Alon Schuster, held a follow-up discussion on the medical rehabilitation of the wounded from the Swords of Iron War, based on a special report by the State Comptroller from June 2026.
Committee Chairman MK Alon Schuster: “The medical and rehabilitation systems are required to deal with an unprecedented scope of injuries, and it is not enough to highlight the failures; rapid and measurable implementation of the recommendations must be ensured. The duty of the Knesset and the executive bodies is to ensure that the recommendations are implemented within defined timelines and that the wounded do not get stuck in bureaucracy.”
The report presented at the discussion showed that as of September 2025, over 20,000 wounded individuals were treated, and later reports estimated the number at approximately 26,000. It was also reported that about 1,660 wounded individuals were treated in hospital rehabilitation departments between October 7, 2023, and July 2025. The audit found that on the eve of the war, there was a shortage of thousands of rehabilitation professionals, and that the staffing quota had not been updated since 2003. A representative of the State Comptroller’s office pointed out that physical injuries have occupational, social, marital, medical, and familial implications, and called for the treatment of the wounded to be seen as a “national mission.”
Dr. Miriam Fink Levi, Deputy Director of the ministry of Health’s Medical Division: “The Ministry of Health began an internal lessons-learned process almost immediately after October 7th. The Ministry has formulated a national rehabilitation plan with an investment of over 250 million shekels, an increase in rehabilitation beds, and expansion of infrastructure; the number of rehabilitation beds has increased (approximately 1,004 beds on the eve of the war, with regular additions in the plan until 2028). The increase in beds must go hand in hand with an increase in personnel and their training, and the Ministry is promoting community-based rehabilitation, home rehabilitation, and the development of new information systems. We are developing digital dashboards that will allow us to receive information in real-time as much as possible. The Ministry is also preparing an emergency rehabilitation procedure and developing dedicated academic training programs, including training in prosthetics construction.”
The Ministry of Health presented emergency preparedness actions at the discussion: establishing a rehabilitation complex within the National Health War Room, developing procedures, transferring departments when necessary, operating home rehabilitation, and establishing community day centers to relieve the burden on hospitals. Levi stated that the health funds are active partners in this model and that patients should be referred to alternative institutions or community rehabilitation as needed: “It is clear that it is better for everyone to be at home than in a hospital.”
Liat Gertman, Deputy Director of the Rehabilitation Division at the Ministry of Defense: “The division receives between 1,000 and 1,500 new wounded individuals each month; the response includes the ‘Rehabilitation First’ model, delaying some medical committees to provide immediate medical, rehabilitative, and economic support; without long-term budget approval and an expansion of personnel, the division ‘will not be able to keep its head above water for much longer.’ The division is also working to make digital information accessible, shorten waiting times, and alleviate bureaucratic burdens, but the strain on units and services in the districts remains high.”
Commander of the IDF’s Medical Services Center, Colonel Avi Sheina: “The IDF accompanies the wounded from the moment of injury on the battlefield until responsibility for further rehabilitation is transferred, in close cooperation with the healthcare system and the Ministry of Defense’s Rehabilitation Division. The achievements in treatment were made possible by continuous synchronization, with the IDF determining the fastest evacuation target in real-time according to the medical condition and operational needs. Even after hospitalization, Medical Corps representatives continue to accompany the wounded in hospitals to ensure a smooth transition, with decisions on the rehabilitation path made in full cooperation with the wounded individual and their family. Following the lessons learned from the war, we are now working to improve and make information transfer to families more accessible and to strengthen coordination among all accompanying parties.”
Director General of the Bnei Zion Medical Center, Prof. Ohad Hochman: “The rehabilitation system requires a broad systemic view that will provide a response to war casualties alongside all routine patients. We must prepare for emergency situations through prioritization and regulation mechanisms, balancing the patient’s wishes with the system’s capabilities, and urgently address the issue of missing protective measures in some rehabilitation departments in the country. In addition, there is a severe shortage of healthcare professionals; operating infrastructure in the afternoons can expand services, but the current grant mechanism has created distortions and actually led to a reduction in services due to the ineligibility of some professionals – I have appealed to the Ministry of Health to re-examine this.”
Director of Ichilov Hospital, Dr. Orly Barak Tzafrir: “The rehabilitation system must be examined from an egalitarian perspective and the activities and gaps between general rehabilitation and geriatric rehabilitation, which are currently based on a medically unjustified age division, must be reduced. The diversion of geriatric rehabilitation resources to assist war casualties has created a shortage for other populations, and strengthening the entire system is a prerequisite for dealing with emergencies without harming the continuity of care. Rehabilitation is a continuous process throughout life, and therefore it is imperative to strengthen home and community rehabilitation, remove financial barriers, and provide a dedicated response to mild, invisible head injuries that dramatically impair function and employment.”
Representative of the Israel Medical Association, Dr. Alon Friedman: “The war has changed public perception and transformed rehabilitation from a field previously seen as secondary to essential medical care. However, despite the addition of beds, significant gaps and a shortage of rehabilitation physicians and community services still exist. The shortage in day rehabilitation unnecessarily prolongs hospitalizations and harms the continuity of care, and urgent incentives are needed to increase the number of residents in the field. We must expand professional support for invisible traumatic brain injuries and strengthen vocational rehabilitation to provide guidance and tools for those who can and want to return to work and study.”
Dana Pinchasov, representative of the Organization of Disabled IDF Veterans: “The characteristics of the current war require us to broaden our perspective on vocational rehabilitation. While in the past the Rehabilitation Division primarily treated young conscripts, today there is a huge population of reservists who were injured after already developing careers, studying, and building life paths. For them, the injury requires rethinking and full retraining, sometimes including advanced studies. The rehabilitation system does not currently fund a master’s degree if the bachelor’s degree was not funded by it, and this is a significant limitation; a person who cannot return to their profession needs tools to build their future, and adapting education is an integral part of rehabilitation.”
Nili Sharabi, mother of Noam, a soldier from the Givati reconnaissance unit who was severely wounded in Khan Yunis, and representative of the “Adot” association for families of the wounded: “My son Noam cut short his gap year trip abroad on October 7th, returned to Israel immediately to fight, and was severely wounded in battle in Gaza, losing three of his friends and his commander. Since December 2023, we have been on a long rehabilitation journey, and as someone accompanying him along with many other families, I want to clarify: we, the family members, are not guests at the wounded person’s bedside; we are an integral and crucial part of their rehabilitation system. Alongside immense appreciation for the dedication of the medical teams, we are encountering serious gaps and a lack of managerial synchronization that are harming our children’s rehabilitation window of opportunity in real-time. We have unwillingly become full-time clerks managing impossible bureaucracy with health funds, the Ministry of Defense, and hospitals, without knowledge or authority. We demand that the state immediately establish a clear procedure defining a ‘caregiving family member’ who will receive full access to information, and appoint a medical case manager for each severely wounded individual to coordinate care and reduce the bureaucratic burden on families, so that we can focus on what is truly important: supporting our children and bringing them back to life.”
