A Bloomberg report says Israel is facing its largest-ever mental health crisis, with PTSD cases expected to rise for decades.
Thousands of Israelis are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following the Palestinian Resistance operation of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing two-year genocidal war on Gaza, constituting the country’s “biggest-ever” mental health crisis, according to a Bloomberg report.
Individuals include soldiers, reservists, and civilians grappling with severe psychological effects. The report cites a reservist who smashed all the windows in his home and a teenager pleading in the Knesset for help in dealing with her father’s “explosive behaviour” since returning from Gaza, where Israel has killed close to 72,000 Palestinians in its genocidal war in the enclave.
Experts say that even if the current ceasefire holds, the numbers of those afflicted will swell, leaving a lasting imprint on society for years to come https://t.co/GcUSJ5tLhd
— Bloomberg (@business) January 27, 2026
“People are in survival mode,” Yafit Levin, a professor of psychology and social work at Israel’s Ariel University, is quoted as saying. Levin said there is “a significant chance” that a right-wing government will be elected again, due to Israelis’ security concerns.
Effect on the Economy
There is also a significant impact on the Israeli economy, likely costing it 500 billion shekels ($160 billion) over the next five years, according to a study by the Israeli Natal Center for Trauma and Resilience, the report stated.
This includes “direct damage to employment and loss of productivity, as well as indirect costs such as increased traffic accidents, chronic disease, addictions and domestic violence.”
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Natal cited a study indicating that up to 625,000 Israelis out of a population of 10 million have suffered or will suffer psychological effects, and that 60,000 to 80,000 “will develop acute symptoms” that will hinder their ability to reintegrate into the workforce.
The report highlighted the concerns from experts who say that even if the fragile ceasefire holds, the number of those struggling with mental health concerns will increase, “leaving a lasting imprint” on Israeli society “for years to come.”
“It’s going to take two or three decades to handle this,” Yair Bar-Haim, head of the National Center for Psychological Stress and Resilience at Tel Aviv University, said.
Numbers Expected to Rise
According to Israel’s Defense Ministry’s rehabilitation department, 32,000 Israeli soldiers are being treated with mental health issues and post trauma, including approximately 13,000 soldiers who joined just in the past two years. The ministry expects this number to rise to 50,000 by 2028.
I slaughtered countless babies for Israel, and this is the thanks I get? 🥲🥲
Former Israel soldier w PTSD broke down in Knesset, saying state abandoned them: “Y must I suffer daily? My life is slipping away.” pic.twitter.com/zyVpU6VLfk
— Abier (@abierkhatib) September 6, 2025
A reservist identified only by his first name, Michael, said his sleepless nights and flashbacks of a bomb having killed two of his peers forced him to quit his job.
“I had to put on a mask, pretend that everything was ok. I have less patience and am more disconnected from those around me,” he reportedly said.
Israel’s Defense Ministry is trying to address the crisis through advertising, with one such ad saying, “You don’t have to carry it on your own.”
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Situation in Gaza
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to violate a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect in October last year, killing over 470 Palestinians since then. The total death toll since October 2023 has risen to over 71,600, with more than 171,000 injured, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
According to UNICEF, more than 56,000 children have lost one or both parents, while widespread displacement, malnutrition, and trauma “continue to shape every aspect of childhood in Gaza.”
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The UN agency’s Child Protection Area of Responsibility report of December 2025 indicated that nearly all 1.1 million children in Gaza require mental health and psychosocial support.
Gaza also remains under severe restrictions, with humanitarian agencies saying that without the sustained reopening of the Rafah crossing and the easing of Israeli controls, humanitarian access, medical evacuations, and reconstruction efforts will remain severely limited.
(PC, Al Mayadeen)
How very sad that these young men and women fail to realize that they have not been abandoned for they have only ever been a tool of the powerful and have been abused.
It is not natural for humans to kill and destroy with such abandon and consequently the human psyche will become confused and conflicted. To think only of those who have committed such atrocities and feel no guilt, compassion, and regret at having caused such devastation clearly indicates distorted thinking and a sick soul.
Oh dear, how sad, never mind.
Are we now expected to show sympathy to the murderers who now having flashbacks of their violence towards Palestinian children and unarmed civillians. It’s the least you deserve. You know the world sees you for what you are so now you pull out the ^sympathy^ card. It won’t work, you should be on your knees begging forgiveness from Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank, for the hell you had such fun putting them through.
No sympathy from me, you cowards.
This was always going to be the outcome of the Balfour declaration, the British mandate acting in BAD FAITH and with MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, air-brushing the indigenous Palestinians from having a voice in their destiny. Did the Zionists really believe that the oppressed would not rise up against the expropriation, the Nakba, the Occupation, the Blockade? The Trump plan will fall like a house of cards. And so it should. It blatantly fails to address the ORIGINAL SIN, the theft of Palestine by force and by fraud. This is unfinished business. The Zionists and the British are equally to blame for this INJUSTICE. In solidarity: a luta continua
I must admit that I have mixed feelings. The young man who said in the Knesset “I slaughtered countless babies for Israel, and this is the thanks I get?” clearly needs treatment. He sorely needs a ghost writer. He says, in terms, ‘I committed obscenely unconscionable acts in defence of my country. Now the killing is over [?] you’ve deserted me’. He is damned by his own words. slaughtered countless babies – he expected thanks. from a neo-Khanist government. He should be Sectioned. I have strictly no sympathy for him. I do have sympathy especially for the Palestinian women and children both the deceased and the traumatised ‘survivors’. Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. The well of pity is dry.