Israel’s war machine facing internal breakdown: 279 soldiers attempt suicide

According to a new report by the Knesset Research and Information Center, between January 2024 and July 2025, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) documented 279 suicide attempts among its soldiers — marking a troubling rise particularly among reserve and combat units.

Israeli media outlets reported that this pioneering study, compiled by the Knesset’s Research and Information Center, exposes alarming trends in suicide attempts within the IDF. Systematic data collection on suicide attempts in the Israeli army began in 2024. Clinical records show that 12% of the attempts were classified as severe, while 88% were considered moderate.

Long-term data indicates that from 2017 to July 2025, a total of 124 soldiers have taken their own lives. Of these, 68% were in mandatory service, 21% were active reservists, and 11% were serving in permanent positions. The report highlights a sharp increase in suicides among reservists since 2023 — a trend linked to the surge in reserve mobilizations following the outbreak of war.

Suicide among combat soldiers has also shown deeply concerning patterns: between 2017 and 2022, combat troops accounted for 42–45% of all suicides in the army, but that share rose dramatically to 78% in 2024.

Additionally, over the past two years, only 17% of soldiers who died by suicide had met with a mental health officer in the two months prior to their deaths.

A member of the Knesset warned that “the suicide epidemic, which may worsen after the end of the war, demands real and effective support systems.”

Eyal Zamir, Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, also addressed the issue during a high-level command conference, expressing concern over the findings.

Meanwhile, the Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted its political analyst Mati Tuchfeld as saying that the dissolution of the Knesset and the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet are becoming increasingly likely, as tensions over the controversial military service law among coalition parties approach a breaking point.

According to Tuchfeld, if the law is not passed in its current form, senior rabbis from the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties may announce their withdrawal from the coalition during a mass rally on Thursday, a move that would effectively bring down the government and trigger early elections.