Sharon Altshul | JNS
Imagine returning home from war, weary, wounded and wheelchair-bound, only to find that your house has become a prison.
The stairs are impassable. The gravel paths turn into obstacles. And the very place you longed to return to no longer feels welcoming.
While the nation’s heart remains with the fallen and the hostages and their families, thousands of wounded Israeli soldiers, some of them survivors of catastrophic injuries, are now facing a different challenge — a war for mobility, dignity and the ability to return to a daily routine.
Thanks to dramatic advances in battlefield medicine, rapid evacuations, bleeding control, and trauma response, more soldiers are surviving. But many return with wounds that will shape the rest of their lives.
The Long Road to Recovery
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, from Oct. 7, 2023, to Aug. 13, 2025, the IDF reported 898 fatalities, 454 of whom fell in combat since the start of the ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27, 2023, and 6,193 soldiers were wounded in battle. Of these, 924 were severely wounded, 1,536 moderately wounded and the rest lightly wounded.
Behind these numbers are individuals fighting to regain control over their lives and a country learning how to support them.
Gandel Rehabilitation Center
At the Gandel Rehabilitation Center on Hadassah’s Mount Scopus campus in Jerusalem, a new generation of soldiers is redefining recovery. “We’re saving more lives than ever,” Prof. Yoram Weiss, director general of the Hadassah Medical Organization, told JNS.
Many of these survivors have severe, complex injuries, amputations, neurological trauma, and emotional scars. Their recovery is just beginning when they leave the battlefield.
The 140-bed facility was fast-tracked and opened in January 2024, answering the urgent need that arose after Oct. 7. Speaking with JNS by phone, Prof. Weiss credited the staff’s dedication and resilience for making it possible. The underground protected shelters became a lifeline in June, when 120 patients spent two tense weeks safely shielded from Iranian ballistic missiles.
Lt. Col. Yonti Bahat, wounded during operations in Gaza, credited the center with helping him begin again. He was among the first to be treated in the new facility.
Bahat was overseas on vacation when Hamas launched its brutal surprise attack on Oct. 7. Determined to return to lead his unit, with no flights from his holiday location, he rented a car and rushed to a remote airport, talked his way into a packed flight, and arrived in Israel, ready to fight. On Jan. 8, 2024, while leading his reserve unit in Gaza, terrorists emerged from a shaft and ambushed his team. Bahat was hit by six bullets, piercing both legs, his left shoulder and a lung.
He was airlifted to Barzilai Medical Center and wheeled into the operating room within 40 minutes of his being shot. A week later, he was transferred to Hadassah Ein Kerem. For two weeks, he was in an induced coma and underwent multiple complex surgeries. After a month and a half of intensive inpatient care, he was transferred to Gandel Rehabilitation Center and began a grueling five-month rehabilitation.
“Rehabilitation isn’t just about walking again,” he said. “It’s about finding purpose again. Every step is a fight — and a win.”
In his case, that meant surgeries, treatment for severe nerve and muscle damage in his scarred leg, and a shoulder replacement. Today, he continues to travel to twice-weekly therapy sessions in Jerusalem from his home on a moshav.
Bahat was well aware of the seriousness of his injuries. Trained to assess and triage battlefield wounds, he knew exactly what was happening. His lung had collapsed, and he was spitting up blood.
His business, “Extreme Simulations,” prepares militaries and emergency services for life-threatening, high-pressure environments with actors, dummies, and battlefield conditions. “Your first incident should feel like the second,” is its slogan.
One of the paramedics who treated Bahat in the field was a female reservist whom he had personally trained in medical simulation and applied the skills she had learned to save him.
Healing Under Fire in the South
In the Negev, ADI Negev–Nahalat Eran’s Kaylie Rehabilitation Medical Center (called ADI Negev for short) stands as a lifeline for Israel’s wounded and disabled. The first and only rehabilitation hospital in the south, it has become even more essential as war continues to ripple across the region.
Since October 2023, ADI Negev has handled 1,250 inpatients, more than 200,000 inpatient treatments, and 50,000-plus outpatient treatments annually. Currently, 60 IDF soldiers are receiving care and 50 soldiers and families are enrolled in its PTSD-focused “Taking Charge of Life” program.
When a ballistic missile from Iran struck Soroka Medical Center in June 2025, destroying the old surgical ward. ADI Negev stepped in. The Kaylie Center, specially designed to withstand missile, chemical and biological attacks, absorbed Soroka’s rehabilitation patients within hours.
“This medical center is part of our contribution to Israel’s national resilience,” said Maj. Gen. (Res.) Doron Almog, founder and chairman of ADI Negev–Nahalat Eran and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. “We were built for this moment, to keep going when others must stop.”
That mission became deeply personal for Shai Pinker, a father of three from Dimona. Just weeks earlier, he had suffered a catastrophic motorcycle crash. He was learning to walk again at Soroka when the missile hit. Miraculously, Shai made it to a shelter moments before his hospital room was destroyed.
Transferred to ADI Negev later that day, supported by a dedicated rehab team and an anti-gravity treadmill, he took his first independent steps just days later.
“Miracle after miracle,” a staff member said. And Shai agreed.
The Home Front: Accessibility and Dignity
In Ra’anana, Beit Issie Shapiro, with its “Tech for Heroes” program, is demonstrating that innovation can be life-changing for wounded soldiers.
Originally designed to help individuals with disabilities better navigate daily life, the program has been adapted to help wounded IDF veterans rebuild their lives at home. From smart home technology and voice-activated systems to adaptive devices and personalized training, it equips users with tools to regain independence.
Adi Timor, who was injured in Gaza by an explosive device that harmed both his legs, one of which he lost, is now rebuilding his life in Tel Aviv, with the help of Beit Issie’s tools and training. “I can choose not to see my situation as an obstacle,” he said, “but rather as part of my life now.”
More than 160 wounded soldiers have already received tailored assistance through “Tech for Heroes,” making it the only program in Israel addressing this specific need on such a scale.
The Warriors Trail
Kfar Retamim, a small agricultural community in the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council, saw 90% of its fathers called up to serve after Oct. 7. Some returned injured. Others didn’t return at all. For many, home was no longer accessible.
Built in a circular layout, Retamim’s terrain became an unexpected barrier, especially for the wounded returning. But with support from Jewish National Fund-USA, that’s changing.
The community is building “The Warriors Trail,” a fully accessible pathway connecting the entire town. The trail isn’t just about mobility; it’s about reintegration, dignity and shared strength for men and women.
Hadass Nisan, director of Resource Development, told JNS, “This trail was built not only to connect homes, but to help heal hearts.”
“This trail is more than a tribute,” said Avrumi Deutsch, a father of four who was wounded in battle. “It’s a real, physical way for me to move freely, reconnect with neighbors and participate in daily life.”
Orit Harash, whose husband was away for extended service, added, “During those long weeks, I held everything together, our five kids, the fear, the unknown. This trail reminds us that the home front matters too. That our strength is seen.”
Expected to be completed by the end of 2025, the trail will include tribute stations honoring both the wounded and the women who held their families and communities together through months of anxiety.
Eran Doron, the mayor of Ramat Negev, said it best: “The Warrior’s Trail honors the strength we carry, on the front lines and at home. It is our way of saying: ‘We see you, we recognize your sacrifice and we are building something lasting in your honor.’”
Rebuilding Resilience
The battlefield has changed, but so must the systems that care for its survivors. Each individual requires a personalized program of combined therapies to heal and move forward.
From the Gandel Center in Jerusalem to ADI Negev in the south, Beit Issie in Ra’anana and to the accessible trails of Retamim, a new infrastructure of care and inclusion is rising.
This is a national challenge. And a national opportunity.
Continued leadership from Hadassah, Beit Issie Shapiro, ADI Negev, local councils, Jewish National Fund-USA and other rehabilitation venues, Israel is showing continued resilience: turning scars into strength and obstacles into pathways.
Judi Felber, mother of severely wounded soldier Nathaniel Felber, told JNS that the support she has received over the past six years since her son was shot while on guard duty has been transformative.
“Nathaniel is always smiling, even with his limitations. I’ve learned a whole new vocabulary and met amazing people on this journey,” she said. “The country truly rallies around its injured soldiers.”
Israel’s wounded warriors are not just stories of pain. They are stories of perseverance. They are not symbols of tragedy. They are symbols of hope.
