Free Republic

A government panel called for a new independent authority to handle tens of thousands of IDF trauma and PTSD cases. Unlike in past wars, where emotional traumas made up about 15% of claims filed, since 2023, nearly 50% of the war claims filed have included emotional trauma such as PTSD. About 25,000 claims have been filed relating to wars since 2023. One major change the committee recommended is financing a weekly emotional trauma visit instead of once every two to three weeks. In addition, the ministry would provide an IDF representative whenever a harmed soldier appears before the committee, submitting...

On Sunday, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) took to X to announce that a senior Hezbollah commander, one Ali Mussa Daqduq, has had his birth certificate permanently revoked. The planet is now a safer, cleaner place without this guy walking around. The post reads: ELIMINATED: Ali Musa Daqduq, a senior Hezbollah commander who held a series of 5 senior positions within Hezbollah. Daqduq played a central role in advancing terrorist attacks and combat operations against Israel and IDF soldiers. In 2007, he orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of 5 American soldiers.

Former IDF chief says ridicule over his English reflects prejudice against Mizrahi Israelis, asking where Netanyahu’s 'excellent English' was on Oct. 7. Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s circle of racism after a senior Netanyahu adviser shared a post mocking Eisenkot’s English, saying the attack reflected panic among the prime minister’s allies... “It is racist, and I despise them,” the former IDF chief said in an interview with “120 and One,” ynet’s Hebrew-language political podcast... Eisenkot, who is expected to challenge Netanyahu in the upcoming general election, said he had attended dozens of English-language meetings with...

Amid the fast-paced daily changes in the political sphere, one trend has remained consistent: the steady rise in support for Yashar Party leader Gadi Eisenkot across recent polls. This trend of Eisenkot rising in the polls, and now coming close behind Bennett and Lapid, who trail Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, could soon make him the leader of the largest party in the opposition bloc... Leading a centrist party aiming to oust Netanyahu, Eisenkot presents himself as a unique candidate in the first election since the October 7 Hamas attacks. He appears to have a more reserved personality,...

The story of Alex Miller has many tragic antecedents...Miller, 23, an American who had served in the IDF, died of an apparent suicide in Miami, where he had been living since being discharged from the army... “We had a lot of conversations about the [2022] attack, but apparently, the attack and Noam’s death broke him. Even though he didn’t admit it, he suffered a lot,” he [father, Danny Miller] told Israel National News... The circumstances surrounding Miller’s heartbreaking death came a day after the High Court of Justice heard a petition challenging the state’s handling of discharged soldiers and reservists...

Alex Miller, a 23-year-old discharged IDF combat soldier originally from the United States, recently died by apparent suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder linked to his military service... Miller was also deeply affected by the death of his close friend Sgt. First Class Noam Shemesh, 21, who was killed during fighting in southern Gaza in 2025... He was reportedly in Miami at the time of his death... Miller was his father’s only child and required special parental approval to serve in combat. At least 60 active and reserve soldiers died by suicide between October 2023 and April of this...

The world's diplomatic attention is fixed on Pakistan, on ceasefire memoranda, on whether Mojtaba Khamenei will emerge from hiding long enough to initial a document. In that distraction, Israel has done something strategically significant in Lebanon that has received almost no serious analysis (but was highlighted on Arutz Sheva). It has crossed the Litani River. Israeli forces have advanced beyond the Litani, a line that for decades functioned as an unofficial boundary in southern Lebanon. Troops are now pushing northward toward the Zahrani River, roughly ten kilometers away. The IDF has declared the entire area between the two rivers an...

Embedded video of strike. Just a week after the severe clash in southern Lebanon in which the late Major (res.) Itamar Sapir was killed, IDF forces eliminated the terrorist responsible for his death. The elimination was carried out thanks to a quick and precise combination of forces between soldiers from the 401st Brigade, forces from the 146th Division, the armor formation, and Air Force pilots, who settled accounts with the terrorist, just minutes after he was identified in the field, entering a structure in the church area. Additionally, the IDF struck observation posts from both the air and the ground,...

The Israeli military says it has begun a wave of strikes across Lebanon following an announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country will intensify its attacks on Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had launched strikes against Hezbollah sites in the Bekaa Valley in the east of Lebanon and additional areas across the country. It followed a video statement on Monday evening in which Netanyahu said Israel was "at war with Hezbollah" and that he had given the military instructions to "deal them a crushing blow". The expansion of Israel's campaign came as the Iranian government...

Israel is facing a mounting mental health crisis, with post-traumatic stress disorder rising sharply among soldiers and the broader mental health system under extraordinary strain with no end in sight. A report released in February 2025 by Israel’s State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman...revealed that...approximately 3 million adults in Israel have experienced anxiety, depression, and symptoms of PTSD... The scale of the need has overwhelmed existing systems. According to Bishvilenu, more than 70,000 IDF soldiers are on the waiting list for the IDF Rehabilitation Department, including at least 9,539 diagnosed with PTSD... The crisis has also brought a rise in suicide attempts....

Israel's Conduct in Gaza Does Not Resemble Genocide. David Bernstein | 5.11.2026. Frankly, I find the charge of genocide against Israel to be obviously absurd, one of those claims that true believers insist upon precisely because the claim is so implausible that promoting it is valuable to show you are a true believer. Hence the pressure by anti-Israel activists for everyone who purports to be "pro-Palestinian" to accept the genocide claim, or be excluded from the club. Nevertheless, because the genocide lie is so common in public discourse over Gaza, I thought it would be useful to write a piece...

An IDF soldier was seen placing a cigarette into the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary, in a Christian village in southern Lebanon, in a photo shared online on Wednesday. After identifying the soldier, the Israel Defense Forces said he will be disciplined. In response to a query, the IDF said that it “views the incident gravely and emphasizes that the soldier’s conduct completely deviates from the values expected of its troops.” An initial inquiry conducted by the IDF found that the photo was taken in the village of Debel several weeks ago, although it was only shared...

In recent days, a disturbing video and photos have circulated widely on social media showing two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in southern Lebanon destroying a statue of Christ on the cross. The soldiers reportedly tore the statue down and smashed it with a hammer while another filmed the act. The incident occurred in the Christian village of Debel during routine operations against Hezbollah terrorists. As a Christian who has followed the Israel-Hezbollah conflict online, I found the images as shocking and indefensible as anyone else.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) itself confirmed the event in an official statement released shortly...

The Allen family are seen with Allen, second from right, together with brother Gabriel, his mother Kathy, father, Thomas, and sisters Stephanie and Avriana

Israel’s military removed two soldiers from combat duty and placed them in military detention for 30 days after they destroyed the town’s crucifix. The social media picture of an Israeli soldier taking the blunt side ‌of an axe to a fallen sculpture of Jesus on the cross drew worldwide condemnation and apologies from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni thanked the Italian soldiers, saying: “I thank Commander Diodato Abagnara and the entire Italian contingent of UNIFIL for their decision to donate a new crucifix to the Lebanese village of Debel.” One of the...

Steven Mills, Tiffany Score suing Fertility Center of OrlandoA Central Florida couple suing an IVF clinic over an embryo mix-up now knows who their baby girl’s biological parents are, their attorney said. The couple gave birth to the girl in December through the Fertility Center of Orlando, only to discover the child was not biologically related to them. Genetic testing later confirmed the mix-up. Steven Mills and Tiffany Score’s attorney confirmed to News 6 that the biological parents of the baby have been identified. Additional details about those individuals were not given. “The results of testing delivered to us today...

Female IDF reservists were forced to guard violent Nukhba terrorists at the Sde Teiman base and detention center in the days following October 7, 2023, despite repeated sexual harassment, according to a Monday KAN News report. "We would serve them food, cuff them, be with them for long hours, and during this time, they would masturbate in front of us, blow us kisses, and try to undress. Their gazes were degrading, stripping. It was unbearable,” one reservist told KAN News's Carmela Menashe. “I didn’t enlist in the IDF for this,” one of the soldiers, who is refusing to return to...

An Israel Defense Forces soldier who smashed a statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon, along with another soldier who photographed the act, have been dismissed from combat duty and sentenced to jail, the military announced on Tuesday. An investigation by the military into the incident in the Christian village of Debel found that in addition to the soldier who damaged the statue and the soldier who photographed him, six other troops were “present at the scene and did not act to stop the incident or report it.” “The inquiry determined that the soldiers’ conduct completely deviated from...

Two Israeli soldiers have been pulled from combat duty and given 30-day jail sentences after one photographed the other swinging what appeared to be a sledgehammer at the head of a statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said on Tuesday. Other troops who stood by but did nothing to intervene, the military said, have also been summoned and could face disciplinary action. The military replaced the damaged statue with a gleaming new sculpture of the crucifixion of Christ and released a photo of it. The extraordinarily swift administration of military justice by Israel was a tacit acknowledgment...

A photo of an Israeli soldier smashing a statue of Jesus Christ with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon has sparked widespread condemnation. Israeli officials confirmed the image is genuine and ‘promised to investigate’. Video on link...