The Ministry of Defense has hired an external company to estimate the number of soldiers who will be registered as disabled IDF veterans in the Rehabilitation Department in 2024. According to a report in Yedioth Ahronoth, the company estimated that in the coming year, 12,500 disabled veterans will be registered, and the scope of requests will reach 20,000.

According to the report, the ministry's Rehabilitation Department currently tends to a total of 50 thousand disabled veterans. In 2023, the department added 5,000 new wounded veterans, among other things, due to the "One Soul" reform for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. 3,400 of the new disabled veterans were registered in the department since October 7th. The data does not include civilians who were injured since the start of the war in incidents the western Negev, northern Israel, and other acts of terror.

Officials in the Rehabilitation Department are discussing the immediate need for additional slots for hundreds of social workers, mental health specialists, and secretaries to contend with the wave of requests.

Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir has been holding regular meetings on the issue with the head of the Rehabilitation Department, Limor Luria, and the head of the Disabled IDF Veteran Organization, Idan Kliman.

"What was done until now shows the government's good intentions, but in the meantime, it hasn't materialized into practical actions," Kliman stated. "A determined action is needed. Just as our soldiers are operating on the frontlines, we also need to be ready to tend to them if G-d forbid they are injured."