Moshe Achrak, wounded in the First Lebanon War, is furious at the state's intention to close the farm/Photo: Igor Finkilstein
If you don't help, why bother? At a time when the State of Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult events in its history and thousands of victims of shell shock and anxiety, civilians and members of the security forces, are joining the circle of Israeli trauma, will Rafi Elmalih, Director General of the Planning Administration at the Ministry of the Interior, ask the High Court of Justice to order the closure of a therapeutic farm that has been used for 25 years to treat victims of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder?
The state issued a demolition order for the farm, claiming that the activity at the site – which has been carried out for 25 years – does not comply with the master plan that applies to the land. The High Court ordered the state to respond to the petition, and next week, on November 15, the High Court Department of the State Attorney's Office is expected to submit its position. However, since the petition began to circulate in the corridors of the courts, the war broke out in Gaza, which has so far claimed thousands of lives in body and soul, and the caregivers at the farm mobilized immediately and began treating trauma victims from the south voluntarily.
Moshe Achrak, a paratrooper from the 890th Battalion who was wounded in the First Lebanon War, is furious at the state's intention to close the farm that treats him: "I was shot in the head while covering Nir Barkat. My entire right side went silent. I couldn't speak, I went through a very long rehabilitation process. At some point in my life, I came to therapeutic riding therapy on a farm in Tel Mond. I came to an amazing place this place which is defined as a farm, for me it is a rehabilitation hospital. Thanks to this place, I am on my feet. This place saves me. As a disabled IDF veteran who paid a tremendous price physically, mentally, the state is now supposed to help me. I'm the big loser who gave his soul, his body. Thanks to this body, many citizens live safely. Don't degrade me. Don't forget what a company like us did."
The farm in Tel Mond that saves lives before closing / official website, photo: Eyal Yitzhar
The country is disconnected from the bleeding reality
In light of the fact that the State Attorney's Office is currently formulating the state's position, which is expected to affect the lives of hundreds of PTSD victims and people with special needs, this week the farm's staff asked the State Attorney's Office to refrain from submitting a position that would lead to the closure of the farm.
Dr. Dorit Brafman, Director General of the Therapeutic Riding Center: "These days, tens of thousands of people are circulating among us who are like 'ticking bombs' that if left untreated, they and their families will not recover. And these are not only IDF soldiers, but hundreds of thousands of civilians in a difficult emotional state, to say the least. How delusional it is that in the name of legal formalism, which is obviously irrelevant at this time, you are liable to deal a fatal blow to the lives of so many civilians and soldiers, at such a fateful time for the future of the country and the wounded society in which we live."
"The organization treats disabled IDF soldiers and post-traumatic stress disorder. Among them are IDF soldiers who were taken prisoner by the enemy and underwent a terrible ordeal of torture for many months, and others who lost their comrades in battles in Sinai and the Golan Heights and were exposed to harsh scenes of war. Some of them have children currently serving in combat roles in Gaza. They say that the Hamas attack on October 7 takes them back years to those moments of terror on the battlefields and in Syrian and Egyptian captivity, which increases their feelings of fear, anxiety and helplessness."
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If you don't help, why bother?/Official website, photo: Eyal Yitzhar
Will the officials close the therapeutic farm?
"At this time, when the State of Israel is experiencing one of the most difficult security incidents in its history – an event that unfortunately has claimed thousands of enormous victims in body and soul, an event that has a direct impact on the number of people who need the farm's care and services today and will need the farm's care and services in the foreseeable future – is it appropriate to hold a court hearing, which, in practice, can and will lead to the closure of the farm? Is it possible that a body of state bodies, including the High Court Department, will genuinely lend their hand to closing a farm that treats post-traumatic stress disorder?" wrote the Center's counsel, Adv. Yuval Galon of Amit Pollak Matalon Law Office, to the Deputy Head of the High Court Department in the State Attorney's Office, Adv. Jonathan Berman.
In conclusion, Adv. Galon addresses representatives of the State Attorney's Office, "Every day we deal with unbelievable cases of fear and anxiety about the closure of the farm. Please do everything you can to get this message across to people whose hearts we can't."
- More on the subject:
- Post-trauma
- Horse Farm
- Tel Mond