Although the sexual abuse of Israeli women attacked, murdered, or taken captive to Gaza and held by Hamas terrorists has largely been ignored by international and even women’s organizations, it is real – and there are surviving victims who need help.
The Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry has allocated NIS four million to treat and heal the women who suffered such horrors.
The subject was discussed on Monday by the Knesset Health Committee, whose chairman, MK Yoni Mashriki, said: “The attack revealed the evil and diabolical depths of the Hamas terrorists that shocked and horrified anyone who has been exposed to them. We must make sure that the survivors are given adequate, exhaustive care and an appropriate follow-up.”
Mashriki said that “the attacks revealed the depths of evil and Satanism of the Hamas terrorists, and we must make sure that the survivors of sexual abuse are helped.” He emphasized the need for a written, budgeted, and integrated procedure to treat victims of such a mass event.
Yesh Atid MK Karin Elharar said that “one’s brain and heart are shattered by the women’s testimonies. Their voices must be heard, including those who cannot cry.” She emphasized that both the victims and the second circle, the ones to collect the evidence and expose the facts, were entitled to appropriate support.
MK Pnina Tamano-Shata – who in 2013 became the first Ethiopian-born woman to become a Knesset member, and who also became the first Ethiopian-born minister after being appointed to lead the Immigrant Absorption Ministry in 2020 – held an international conference on the matter, whereby she added that many of the murdered and abducted were subjected to severe, horrific sexual abuse, and that the victims who were rescued are finding it difficult to talk about this.
She called on the Health Ministry to share with the committee the treatment to be used to help the surviving victims.
Dr. Zohar Sahar, director of the Health Ministry’s department for the treatment of sexual assault, replied that all government ministries are working in coordination, and are pooling resources to treat victims, including sexual victims. Moreover, the ministry operates digital and regular learning systems for the treatment of victims. She added that “there is a great willingness to help organizations and caregivers.”
Demand for trained therapists
Sal’it Shahar-Hochman, head of the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry’s unit for the treatment of the sexually injured, said that immediately after the Hamas attack, it allocated an immediate budget of NIS 4m. for the treatment of sexually assaulted persons, and that some 80 treatment centers are being operated throughout the country.
Mali Levy, coordinator of rehabilitation at the National Insurance Institute, stated that anyone who is recognized as a victim of sexual assault is entitled to a support system that includes both private and public therapists.
But there is still a shortage of trained therapists for victims of sexual abuse, said Tzvia Zeligman, head of the sexual abuse treatment unit at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, pointing out that this was true even before the war.