“Israeli” Trust in IOF Reporting Drops

By Staff, Agencies

While the “Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] has succeeded in lowering the rate of suicides in the military by 75% since efforts began, public trust in the IOF’s reporting on the matter dropped in 2020 to just 38%, according to a new report presented to the Knesset Subcommittee for Personnel in the IOF on Tuesday.

Some nine incidents of suspected suicide were reported in the IOF in 2020, while 12 incidents were reported in 2019. Most of the incidents involved men in mandatory service using a weapon who had no reported issues with personal affairs.

OC Manpower Directorate Maj.-Gen. Moti Almoz told the committee that there are likely ways to further decrease the suicide rate in the IOF, as most cases of suicide are preventable as people tend to sink slowly and meet people who could disrupt their intent to commit suicide if they recognize it correctly and listen and provide a shoulder to lean on.

Almoz stressed that commanders and soldiers need to be educated on the matter but that this is a challenge as soldiers and commanders are often switched between positions meaning that new commanders have to be educated on a constant basis and soldiers can often end up in positions where they don't know anyone and end up feeling alone.

The IOF has directives and capabilities in place in case a soldier goes missing to find him as quickly as possible.

Despite the continuing drop in suicide rates, trust in the IOF’s reporting of suicide incidents dropped in 2020 to just 38%, according to the IOF. Younger “Israelis” tended to be more distrustful of IOF reporting on the issue, with just 29% of 18-24-year-olds stating that they trust the IOF on the issue. In comparison, 44% of “Israelis” 55 and older stated that they trusted the IOF on the issue.

Additionally, women trust the IOF on suicide reporting less [30.5%] than men do [45%] and left-wing “Israelis” trust the IOF on the issue much less [26%] than right-wing “Israelis” do [40%]. Some 45% of combat soldiers trust the IOF on the issue, while only 28% of “Israelis” who did not serve in the IOF expressed trust on the issue.

Hermann stressed that there may be problems with how the IOF’s efforts to prevent suicides has been presented to the public and that this issue should be considered in light of its importance concerning public trust.