A group of combat veterans with PTSD burst into a Knesset committee hearing on the Torah Study Basic Law on Thursday afternoon, shouting at lawmakers: 'You all made a fool of us. How much more?!' — according to reports.
In the latest disruption of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Thursday, a group of combat veterans with PTSD burst into the room and shouted at lawmakers: 'You all made a fool of us. How much more?!' The incident, reported by The Zioneer, occurred minutes after a series of earlier confrontations in the same hearing on the Basic Law: Torah Study.
At 13:05 Jerusalem, The Zioneer reported that veterans stormed the committee demanding changes to the bill's wording. Simultaneously, i24NEWS cited veterans pleading with MK Yitzhak Goldknopf to 'save lives' and calling for PTSD treatment. Minutes earlier, an initial uproar was reported by journalist Daphna Liel. Corroboration has thus evolved from a single channel to multiple newsrooms, all converging on the same timeline.
The protests are driven by opposition to the proposed legislation, which would equate Torah study with national service. As The Zioneer reported on Tuesday, a PTSD-stricken reservist disrupted a previous Knesset session on the same bill. On Sunday, The Zioneer covered MK Simcha Rothman, committee chairman, clashing with opposition lawmakers over the bill.
It remains unclear whether the veterans' demands for changes to the bill's wording or for expanded PTSD treatment will be addressed by the committee or the coalition.
4 developments
- DevelopingPTSD-stricken reservist storms Knesset debate on Torah Study Basic Law
- DevelopingKnesset Committee erupts as MKs clash over Torah Study Basic Law: 'What are we, drug addicts?'
- DevelopingKnesset committee erupts as MK tells Abbas 'you didn't send soldiers to die in Gaza, you have three deserter grandsons'
- StrongCombat PTSD sufferer Omer Amselem decries political exploitation of soldiers' trauma in Knesset speech
Source and signal
- Internal intake