Dim Amor
The new State Comptroller's report reveals the complex reality of Israel's resilience center system – a system that was built over more than a decade to strengthen the population's ability to cope with crises, and which underwent its most difficult test of truth during the traumatic events of October 7th and their aftermath.
The Israeli resilience center system began to be built in 2008, when the state identified the vital need for professional response capability for a population frequently subjected to emergency situations and security pressure. Over 14 years, until 2022, 14 resilience centers were established throughout the country – five of them in Gaza envelope communities, four in Judea and Samaria, three in the south, and two on the northern border. These centers were designed to serve approximately 1.3 million residents from all sectors of the Israeli population, with the goal of providing professional response to strengthen personal and community resilience.
The activity of the resilience centers is based on a procedure published by the Ministry of Health in October 2017, establishing three main functions: strengthening the mental and personal resilience of patients, strengthening and improving community resilience and cohesion in the community, and preparing and developing emergency services. The centers are supposed to provide response both during routine periods and in times of emergency, while providing short-term treatment for anxiety and trauma victims using defined treatment methods. Within the framework of the model established by the Ministry of Health, resilience centers are located in the third and fifth circles of care providers.
The importance of this system was revealed in its full force on Simchat Torah day 5784, October 7, 2023, when the terrorist organization Hamas carried out the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of the State of Israel. The attack began with the firing of thousands of missiles toward Israel, and simultaneously thousands of terrorists infiltrated IDF bases, cities, and communities in the western Negev, especially in Gaza envelope communities where five of the resilience centers operated. The terrorists also reached multi-participant festivals held near the Gaza Strip, where they committed mass murder.
The terrorist events of October 7th were extreme in their cruelty and scope. The terrorists murdered hundreds of soldiers and about a thousand Israeli and foreign civilians, committed horrific crimes against women, men, elderly people, children and infants, female and male soldiers. In addition to the murder, they wounded thousands of people, committed severe sexual assaults on victims, and kidnapped into Gaza Strip territory 251 women, men, and children. The damage did not end with people – the terrorists destroyed, burned, and demolished houses in communities, factories, equipment, and other property.
The incomprehensible trauma also occurred on the psychological level. During the fighting in the communities, many residents were forced to hide for many hours in protected spaces and other hiding places, with heavy fear for their lives while becoming aware of the horrors happening to family members, relatives, neighbors, and friends. Some of them saw the horrific events happening with their own eyes. Many others throughout the country saw the horrific events live through media and social networks, which expanded the circle of trauma to the entire population.
The consequences were immediate and severe. Since the outbreak of the war until the beginning of January 2024, approximately 210,000 people were evacuated or evacuated themselves from their homes. The psychological damage was no less than the physical damage – according to a survey conducted by the State Comptroller's office in April 2024, 38% of survey participants reported symptoms of post-trauma, depression, anxiety, or a combination of them at a moderate or severe level. This is a worrying figure that testifies to the extent of psychological damage in the population.
In view of these attacks and in view of threats of additional attacks, both in the southern arena and in the northern arena, a series of decisions was made regarding the evacuation of the population from communities in both arenas. These decisions led to additional damage to the sense of personal and community resilience of the population in Israel, when entire communities were forced to leave their homes and deal with ongoing uncertainty.
The state responded urgently to the new situation. Five days after the outbreak of the war, on October 12, 2023, the Ministry of Health was approved for a tender-exempt agreement with the Israeli Coalition for Trauma to reinforce activities in resilience centers and establish a national supra-regional resilience center. The new center was designed to provide emotional treatments online or in clinics of therapists who would be employed for this purpose, with the aim of expanding the therapeutic response to the affected population.
Operationally, two resilience centers in the north are operated by the Resource Center, while the rest of the resilience centers are operated by the Israeli Coalition for Trauma. This division of responsibility reflects the state's effort to spread risks and ensure continuity of activity even in emergency situations.
The harsh reality of October 7th exposed both the critical importance of the resilience center system and the challenges facing it. On one hand, the centers that were established over many years provided professional and organizational infrastructure that enabled immediate response to the traumatic crisis. On the other hand, the scope of events and the extreme trauma experienced by the population presented the system with challenges that had not been experienced before.
The State Comptroller's report emphasizes that resilience centers had and still have a central role in preserving and rehabilitating the personal and community resilience of the state's population both as individuals and as a society. This role has become even more critical in the current Israeli reality, where the population is required to deal with unprecedented collective trauma and ongoing uncertainty about the security future.
The real test of the resilience center system has not yet ended. While the system succeeded in providing initial response to the crisis, the question is how it will succeed in dealing with the long-term challenges of rehabilitating personal and community resilience in a society that has experienced such deep trauma. The task of restoring trust, of rehabilitating the sense of security and the ability to function normally, and of building resilience toward future challenges – all of these constitute an ongoing examination of the system's effectiveness and its ability to adapt to changing reality.
Israeli resilience centers today have a dual mission: on one hand, to treat victims of the October 7th trauma and its ongoing consequences, and on the other hand, to prepare the population for future emergency situations that may occur. In a country fraught with security challenges like Israel, this task is not only professional but also national – it relates to the ability of Israeli society to maintain its resilience, its functioning, and its ability to continue and thrive even in the face of extreme threats.
