A disabled Israeli war veteran set himself alight at a bus stop yesterday, sustaining serious burns, two days after a protester died of injuries from a similar incident.
Police and medics said the man was in his 50s and that passersby put out the flames that engulfed him on a road near Tel Aviv. He suffered burns over 80 per cent of his body.
Dudi Gilboa, a member of an Israeli disabled veterans group, told Israel Radio he and the veteran had been embroiled in a dispute with authorities in charge of rehabilitating and helping wounded veterans.
“We have mourned our friends in battle, we don’t want to lose them like this,” Mr Gilboa said, echoing the concerns of many in Israel that the July 14th self-immolation of Moshe Silman, at a march against rising housing and food prices, might be copied. – (Reuters)