Olim, Lone Soldiers and the Quagmire called Mental Health in Israel
I have been involved in a wonderful organization called Keep Olim in Israel. It is a selfless organization that helps many people across many areas of their lives. One of its main projects is the mental health initiative Tikvah by Keep Olim. It is truly wonderful! Over 400 trained and experienced psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists provide support to literally thousands of olim and lone soldiers. The question really is: Why isn't this being handled by the kupot cholim, the medical insurance clinics, which we all pay money towards, and who receive millions, if not billions, of shekels of support from the government?
Yet, the system does not work. The people who make Aliyah as returning citizens are not given their medication through the kupah and have to wait for weeks, if not months, for their medication. This is totally unacceptable. Also, when a person makes Aliyah and needs a mental health advisor, he or she has to go on a waiting list and wait 6 months until he or she finally finds someone to talk to who perhaps actually speaks the same language! That doesn't always happen. Is that right? Is it appropriate to say that the kupot provide patients with approximately 8-12 sessions? I am sorry, but that, too, is unacceptable. Who decides who needs treatment and for how long? Is it some administrator who is worried about their P&L, or is this decided by the patient's therapist in consultation with his or her mental health provider in Chul?
This is just an Anglo oleh. Ok, what about olim from other foreign countries? Does Israel provide therapists who can speak their language? Therapists have told me that it is critical to understand languages, as this helps gauge the nuances of responses. It is critical. So why do mental health therapists under the government, for example, the national suicide helpline (which is funded by the government), speak only in Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, and Russian? They claim they speak English, but they have no one who speaks English; so, they send them to Tikvah by Olim.
One site says: "24/7 Emotional First Aid Hotline – **** provides life-saving emotional first aid by phone, 24\7, 365 days a year. The service is available in Hebrew and in a variety of languages on OLIM HELPLINE." The ad claims that the help is available 24/7, but when you press the link the message states that it is only available from 2-9 pm. That is not every day, and many callers have to wait an hour to get help. Why is that? Why isn't the government doing more? This is the case for "ordinary" citizens.
What about lone soldiers? I had the sad experience of knowing a student who came to Israel and joined the IDF and then died by suicide. That was almost 14 years ago. Yesterday, another lone soldier died by suicide. Why aren't the soldiers being screened and provided the urgent care they need if necessary?
There are death notices in the papers almost every week.
Recently, as reported in the papers, a non-oleh soldier went to their kabam (a trained basic mental health provider) and was not sent for the help she needed; she subsequently died by suicide.
There are too many instances of suicide deaths, and they stem from the paltry and embarrassing lack of action by the government, the Ministry of Health, and the army in providing adequate profiling after mechina (before their army service) and sufficient resources. This is critical for our citizens and our soldiers. Our greatest weapon is our people. Our sons and daughters. Our brothers and sisters who are fighting for us. We have seen a lot over these past 3 years in particular. They need to be given the best and most extensive treatment. Not only for when they are in battle or in the army, but when they return to civilian life, which is sometimes much harder to cope with. I, as a teacher, have experienced unbearable loss. My school Rabbi, Rabbi Avi Goldberg Hy'd, was murdered in Lebanon by terrorists. This was a devastation wrought upon the whole school. My school experienced 10 graduates who were killed either in battle in the war or from the terrorism of October 7th. These graduates were close with many of the teachers and with the current students because victims were their madrichim (counselors) in their youth groups. Thank Hashem the Misrad Hachinuch provided help to my school. But what if one is no longer in school? We have to ensure that the MAXIMUM is done, not the minimum. We can't accept an adequate solution or a good solution. The solution must be the best solution. I always say good is the enemy of best.
Misrad Habriut started a support line at the beginning of the war, but the calls are directed to the national suicide hotline, and the vicious cycle continues as they are not open 24/7 even though they claim that they are. Sometimes people wait for hours before someone answers their calls. I can only imagine a person calling the national suicide hotline, waiting to get help, only to have to wait for an hour. Is this acceptable? I don't think it is!
If I am elected, this is going to be one of the main issues that I will address in the Knesset. Without a doubt, saving our soldiers from death by suicide must become a top priority in our government, our Ministry of Health, our Ministry of Education, and, of course, the army.
I want to help our people! I am running to make a difference in the lives of all our citizens. This is a critical pikuah nefesh situation of the highest order!
I will support the mental health reforms as a major issue in this 26th Knesset. I hope you will help me!