Itzik Saidyan, an IDF veteran who self-immolated outside the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department for wounded soldiers in 2021, told a Knesset committee on Sunday that the nation must give the highest priority to those who serve on the front lines.

His speech to the Knesset House Committee came as it debated the highly controversial proposed Basic Law declaring Torah study a foundational value of the State of Israel. The bill, which is intended to shield draft evaders from sanctions and prosecution, passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum last week, despite sharp objections from legal authorities.

“With all due respect to the value of Torah and military service, the correction that is most needed here is to give supreme value to those who went into battle, those who sacrificed their lives, who were willing to die,” Saidyan said in a passionate speech to the committee. “There are people who, in practice, are perhaps 10 percent [of the population] according to the data, who go into battle. They lost friends right before their eyes. They collected bodies. They sacrificed everything – everything – not in theory, in the line of fire.”

The combat veteran continued: “And you bring the Torah here, there’s no problem… but the first thing, the very first priority is the fighters, the ones who go into battle… those who were in the line of fire, who were injured… who lost part of their body and soul… who feel that the state has forgotten them,” Saidyan said. “They need to feel every day when they wake up in the morning that the state appreciates and recognizes them.”

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The proposed Basic Law would ensure that they do not face consequences for refusing to enlist, despite a persistent IDF manpower shortage.

Absent a constitution, Basic Laws in Israel have the highest legal status in the country.

חובת צפייה – איציק סעידיאן זועק, לוחם גולני והלום קרב, זועק מדם ליבו בחוק יסוד לימוד תורה – ״התיקון היחיד שצריך לעשות זה לקבוע כערך עליון את מי שיצא לקרב, את שהקריב את החיים שלו והיה מוכן למות!״ pic.twitter.com/8ZArZwes5I — דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) July 5, 2026

חובת צפייה – איציק סעידיאן זועק, לוחם גולני והלום........

© The Times of Israel