A 24-year-old IDF reservist has taken his own life after being haunted by the combat he experienced in Gaza and Lebanon, his family have said.
Daniel Edri was found in a burning car in a forest near his hometown of Safed, early on Saturday morning.
Speaking to Ynet, his mother Sigal, said: “I could see it coming the whole time, and I feared it… We were always worried about him."
Daniel – who was discharged from the IDF five months ago – served around 18 months of reserve duty in the role of combat support. Despite being called up as a driver, taking supplies to those fighting on the front line, he was also exposed to casualties, including recovering the bodies of fallen soldiers.
His mother told Ynet: "He told me he saw horrors and said, 'Mom, I can’t stop smelling the bodies, and I see the bodies all the time.'"
At the time of his death, Daniel was in the process of trying to be formerly recognised as having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and was due to begin a stint at a rehabilitation retreat the next day.
In another interview with Walla, his mother said: "Time was against him, and he could no longer bear the pain.”
Daniel also lost two childhood friends, Eliasaf Ben Porat and Gabriel Yishai Barel, during the Nova massacre on October 7 – and it’s being reported that de had tried to reach Re'im to help.
Despite the fact that Daniel was not serving in the IDF at the time of his death, his family are now pushing for him to have a military funeral and be burried in a military cemetery.
“He lost his soul in military service and lost his life because of his military service,” Sigal said. “If they couldn’t save his life, they must not desecrate his body and soul twice.”
However, an IDF statement on the matter, read: "The late Daniel Edri was not in active or reserve service at the time of his death, and therefore, he is not entitled to a military funeral.”
