The need for mental health care in Israel has never been more urgent. Since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, Israelis have been living under a constant cloud of extreme distress, anxiety, and trauma, over and above the real and immediate threat of violence with rocket sirens continuing in parts of the country, mobilizations, and the daily uncertainty for families with loved ones in uniform.
There is also the long tail of war: the physical wounds, the psychological scars, and the collective stress that comes from living in a country where the next crisis can feel like it is just around the corner.
The figures are staggering. While exact data is hard to come by there have been reports that as many as 9,000 soldiers had been wounded in the months of fighting and that number could reach as high as 20,000, an unheard-of number in such a small country. These are not simply statistics, each one represents a person, a family, and a community grappling with the aftermath of trauma.
And these figures don’t include the countless civilians who have suffered physical and psychological harm, nor those whose wounds are invisible but no less real; the parents whose children are afraid to sleep alone; the survivors of massacres and rocket attacks; and the hundreds of thousands who have lost homes or been displaced by violence.
Against this backdrop, mental health professionals have sounded the alarm.
Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso called this the “worst-ever mental health crisis” in the country’s history.
Studies since October 7 have documented a dramatic rise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. The impact is everywhere, from the front lines to the classrooms, from bomb shelters to the therapist’s couch. Enosh, Israel’s largest mental health organization, reported a surge in demand far beyond their pre-war caseload of 16,000 individuals and families.
Dealing with the realities of a country in trauma
The question is not whether Israel has talented, dedicated mental health professionals. It does. The nation’s psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers are, by every account, well trained. But the numbers tell a harsher story, they are simply too few to meet the tidal wave of need.
According to the Taub Center, Israel had just 1.4 psychologists per 1,000 people between 2020 and 2022, and only 0.099 psychiatrists per 1,000 under retirement age as of 2022. Even with a recent influx of new psychology licenses – 700 in 2023 – Israel still lags behind most Western countries in per capita mental health specialists.
The gap is growing. Financially, mental health in Israel receives just 5.2% of the national health budget – far below the 10-16% typical in other high-GDP countries. That means longer wait times, overloaded clinics, and therapists forced to triage cases, choosing who gets seen today and who must wait.
In a country where approximately 300,000 people are suffering from severe mental illness and another 700,000 family members need ongoing support, the cracks in the system are widening.
The government has taken some steps, including a NIS 330 million ($88 million) grant to expand psychiatric clinics and a planned 40% salary increase for public sector psychologists in 2025. But since these measures cannot fill the gap overnight, for many, the help they need is still out of reach.
Israelis are resilient. We are used to coming together in times of crisis, to improvising and helping one another. But resilience is not a substitute for care.
The ongoing war has made it painfully clear – trauma is not just a byproduct of conflict, it is a second front, one that demands resources, attention, and a new sense of national urgency. Without a dramatic investment in mental health care, and a rapid expansion of the workforce, Israel risks a generation marked not just by physical wounds, but by invisible ones that linger for decades.
It’s time for policymakers to treat mental health with the seriousness it deserves. The health of Israel’s society depends on it. This is not just a healthcare issue; it’s a national security imperative. A society cannot remain strong, innovative, or unified when millions carry untreated trauma.
The invisible wounds of war must be treated with the same urgency as physical injuries. That means funding and training, as well as elevating mental health to a national priority because no amount of resilience can heal what care has ignored.
Dr. Michael J. Salamon is a psychologist specializing in trauma and abuse, and director of ADC Psychological Services in Netanya and Hewlett, NY.
Louis Libin is an expert in military strategies, wireless innovation, emergency communications and cybersecurity.