"Must help": the cry of the father whose son the officer committed suicide | Israel today

"If I could, I would move my son's grave from the military plot to the civilian plot. I want them to remove the IDF tombstone, with its name and rank, and put a normal tombstone.

I will write about her "here was killed a dear Jew named Dotan Yitzhak, who died in tragic circumstances", without mentioning that he was a captain and without having any connection to the IDF or the Ministry of Defense.

Yehuda Yitzhak, the father of the late Captain Dotan Yitzhak, who was a rookie lieutenant colonel at the Combat Collection School, says these harsh words.

In April 2017, while at his base in the Negev, Dotan put an end to his life.

Since then, his parents and brother have been waging a painful struggle with the Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation Division to recognize them as a bereaved family, entitled to psychiatric treatment.

After they were rejected, they filed an appeal with the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, but it was rejected three weeks ago.  

"Want to have the IDF tombstone removed": illustration, photo: Gideon Markovich

This week, after realizing that they did not have the financial capacity to appeal again, the father posted a heartbreaking post in which he wrote that the court did not accept the family's claim that the IDF allegedly led to his son's death, after not earlier than promised.

"Five years after my son died, this will be the first time a civil memorial has been held for him," he wrote.

"Without flags and without a military rabbi. I asked the casualty officer not to call us anymore and informed the Combat Collection Corps that no representative would be sent. We will be just family and friends. "In light of this, we are boycotting Memorial Day. For us, it is a black day."

Dotan, 27 at the time of his death, loved military service.

About two weeks before he took his own life he received a certificate of excellence for his performance from the base commander.

His sister-in-law, Neta Yitzhak, expands: "The MPCF investigation determined that the cause of death was economic, after Dotan purchased an apartment.

For our part, we presented evidence that Dotan was depressed because it was decided to transfer him to a position that he did not deserve. "

"It is not possible to recognize a family as a whole": Ministry of Defense, archive, Photo: Gideon Markovich

"suicidal thoughts"

The voice of Yehuda (69), a bus driver, was broken.

"The job they wanted to give him was like putting Rambo in kindergarten," he says.

"The court accepted the MPC's version and I felt like I was confirming the killing.

I wanted to do what Itzik Saidian did.

I thought I would burn myself on Dotan's grave and then something would change.

My mental damage is irreparable anyway.

What did I want?

Mental help after my son died.

Unfortunately, I have no money to appeal again.

Even so, we are in debt.

The Ministry of Defense tore us to pieces and because of them I delete Memorial Day from the lexicon.

We will arrive early in the morning, before the military ceremonies. "

The Ministry of Defense stated: "The reasons for the deceased's death, unfortunately, do not allow his family to be recognized under the law."

IDF Spokesman: "Given the reasons related to the privacy of the individual, we will not be able to comment on the circumstances of his death.

It should be noted that at the time of the late Dotan's death, his next position in the IDF had not yet been agreed.

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us