A third of the suicides noted within military ranks in 2021 were by Ethiopian Israeli soldiers, an IDF report of the issue revealed Tuesday.
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Brig. Gen. Yoram Knafo, a senior officer with the IDF Manpower Directorate, said that overall, 31 deaths were recorded in the military last year for various reasons, including operational activity, accidents, suicide, and illness.
Suicide remained the leading non-combat-related cause of death in 2021, as 11 soldiers took their own lives, three of them of Ethiopian descent.
IDF data shows that the number of suicides in the military has been decreasing steadily since 2005, when 36 soldiers took their own lives.
Figures released by the IDF showed that nine soldiers committed suicide in 2020, a dozen did so in 2019, nine took their own lives in 2018, and 16 committed suicides in 2017.
"What we're seeing is that the numbers are stable," Knafo said. "I review every suicide case. We hold an inquest following every case, on top of the investigation held by the Military Police. We examine every aspect pertaining to each case, and we have found that the issue of mutual guarantee and identifying early signs of distress are very significant."
Some 400 suicides were prevented over the past year, he stressed, citing both restricted access to weapons as well as suicide prevention programs designed to better train commanders to recognize severe emotional distress among soldiers.
Of the noncombat fatalities recorded in 2021, 10 soldiers died in car accidents while on leave, and six succumbed to illness, though none of them from the coronavirus.
Knafo said that in 2021, 67 soldiers were in serious condition over medical issues, compared to 41 in 2020 and 35 in 2019. Eleven of the soldiers were in serious condition over COVID-19.
No fatalities resulted from training accidents in 2021, he said.
Knafo noted that overall, the number of soldiers involved in traffic accidents while on leave has decreased, saying the IDF is investing resources in various awareness and prevention programs.
The IDF, he added, continues to restrict soldiers' access to weapons on leave, as part of the effort to prevent off-base casualties as a result of mishandling or playing with weapons.
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