Six months ago, Jewish Home News published a warning that the IDF’s “Purity of Arms” doctrine had mutated into a modern form of human sacrifice—a revival of the ancient Molech worship where children were passed through fire to appease a false idol. That article, IDF Rules of Engagement and the Echoes of Molech, argued that the standing open-fire orders prioritize the lives of enemy civilians over those of our own sons, transforming mandatory service into a ritual of ethical martyrdom.

Now, Jonathan Pollard has added his voice to this indictment, identifying this very doctrine as the “primary driver” of an unspoken epidemic devouring the ranks of the IDF: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and soldier suicide.

The Epidemic is Not Weakness; It is Betrayal

In a recent communique, Pollard addressed the staggering number of Israeli soldiers returning from Gaza with severe psychological trauma. Crucially, he rejects the conventional narrative that these soldiers are “psychologically weak” or unable to handle the stress of combat.

Instead, Pollard identifies the root cause as a “dereliction of duty” by the General Staff and the government. The trauma, he argues, does not stem merely from the horrors of war, but from the nature of the combat soldiers are forced to endure. When soldiers are sent into booby-trapped buildings or sniper alleys with their hands tied by legal advisors—fighting to “stop the enemy” rather than to win—they suffer a profound moral injury. They realize, as Pollard puts it, that “their lives simply aren’t valued by the High Command”.

This aligns perfectly with the definition of the “Modern Molech” we established in July: a system that compels youth to offer their lives on the altar of a synthetic ethical principle.

Vietnam in Gaza: The Trap of “Purity”

Pollard draws a chilling parallel between the current war in Gaza and the American experience in Vietnam. He notes that the high rates of PTSD in Vietnam veterans were often attributed to the “jungle combat” conditions, where victory was undefined and soldiers were essentially bait.

Today, Gaza’s urban terrain is Israel’s jungle. Pollard argues that the IDF’s refusal to use overwhelming firepower—what he calls a strategy of “bombs rather than bodies”—guarantees psychological destruction. By sending infantry into environments they know are rigged with IEDs, rather than leveling the threat from the air, the army is adhering to the “Purity of Arms” at the direct expense of soldier sanity and survival.

As we wrote in July, this is the mechanism of the sacrifice: the “passing through fire” is no longer symbolic. It is the literal walking into a “death trap” to satisfy the demands of international law and a progressive military doctrine.

The Only Cure is Victory

The treatment for this epidemic is not more therapy or better rehabilitation clinics—though Pollard agrees these are desperately needed to prevent immediate suicides. The only true cure is a fundamental change in the mission.

Pollard calls for the immediate removal of the current General Staff and the total abandonment of the “Purity of Arms” doctrine. He asserts that soldiers must know they are fighting for a decisive victory, not a stalemate dictated by “legal commissars”.

The “Purity of Arms” has become a suicide pact. As Pollard concludes, treating the resulting PTSD is merely a “band-aid” if the root cause—the doctrine itself—remains in place.

To end the sacrifice to Molech, we must stop feeding him our children.

The time has come for the families of soldiers to demand that the military prioritize the survival of its own troops above the enemy’s population, above international opinion, and above the false idols of a failed morality.