About 1,200 people died in the attacks on villages and army outposts in southern Israel, while Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, leaving the territory almost uninhabitable. A UN commission of inquiry has concluded that the destruction amounts to genocide. Beneath the surface of daily life, Israelis are struggling.
New data from the National Mental Health Barometer, conducted by Clalit Health Services' Research Institute and the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, shows one in five Israelis reports severe difficulty functioning because of mental health problems. Among children and adolescents, a separate Clalit study recorded a 121 percent increase in psychiatric emergency visits compared with the pre-war period.
One-third of the Israeli population felt they needed mental health treatment, according to the barometer report. Half reported that their leisure activities had been affected, and 35 percent said they had difficulty forming and maintaining close relationships.
The personal cost is captured in the story of Irit Ben Arye, whose husband Haim Ben Arye drove south on October 7 to help evacuate survivors from Kibbutz Be'eri. The 52-year-old bus driver returned home crying and died by suicide about two weeks later. The couple had eight children. Speaking during a webinar for journalists, Irit recalled telling her children: "You have to ask for help, if something is bothering you, if you're in pain, in the dark, you feel that you are alone. Cry, ask, break something. Make yourself noticed, make us notice that you are in pain."
Israel's ongoing military engagements, including strikes on Iran and retaliatory missile attacks, have added further periods of fear and disruption, compounding the mental health crisis across the society.