“What’s on Our Minds”: NGO Leaders on What Matters

As missiles fell and tensions rose, over 40 NGO leaders and mental health professionals gathered to share what’s really happening on the ground—from caregivers on the edge to systems under strain. This is a snapshot of what they’re seeing, what’s breaking, and what urgently needs support.

Today, as the country reels yet again—from the Iranian missile strikes and the ensuing Operation Rising Lion—we sat in a virtual room with over 40 NGO leaders, therapists, and mental health experts.

This was not another webinar. The goal was to listen and hold space, not just to problem-solve. It was a collective exhale. A moment of truth from those who have been responding since October 7, through the Gaza war, the northern evacuations, and now, again, national alert.

But what emerged from this shared moment was a remarkably clear reflection of what’s on the minds of those holding up our social safety net right now.

Layered Trauma: One Crisis on Top of Another

As Irit Aloni of NATAL put it, “This isn’t a new trauma. It’s a trauma layered on trauma. The bruise was already there, and now the strike lands again—on the same spot.”

The language of this moment is not hyperbole. It is clinical, accurate, and personal. Mental health professionals are seeing a nationwide return to acute symptoms: panic attacks, sleeplessness, dissociation, regression. But more than that, they are experiencing them too. “The wave of impact isn’t just physical,” Irit reminded us. “It seeps into the walls—not the concrete ones, the internal ones.”

Routine—what little was rebuilt since October—has been fractured again. Summer plans cancelled. Mental health wards evacuated. Kids sent home early. “How many times can you restart your life?” someone asked. The answer is: we’re trying. But it’s harder every time.

What Changed—and What Didn’t—Since the Iran Attack

While the missile strike from Iran was a new event, most of what we’re experiencing now isn’t new—it’s reactivated. But there are shifts in how people are responding, and in the pressure points emerging in the field.

What changed:

• Acute distress resurged: “We’re back to acute stress responses—disorientation, panic,” said Irit Aloni. Hotline calls to NATAL have surged into the hundreds per day. For many, the trauma feels fresh and immediate.

• Learned helplessness: “People are no longer rushing to the bomb shelter. They just sit. They’re passive. Or they ignore the sirens entirely. Both are signs of a nervous system that’s exhausted.” explains Prof. Eyal Fruchter. “I’m more worried about the ones who feel nothing,” said Irit. “That’s when the danger is real—when they’ve shut down completely.”

• Psychiatric hospital discharges: As Eyal Fruchter explained, psychiatric institutions had to reduce occupancy by up to 30% due to safety risks. This has left families caring for loved ones at home, often without preparation or resources.

• Routine shattered—again: “The kids are on break already in June, not in August,” said Eyal. “You can’t plan anything. Flights are canceled. Once again, the routine is broken.” These disruptions wear on everyone’s mental bandwidth.

• New vulnerable groups: From youth forced out of residential programs to families without shelters and soldiers called back into service again—more people are in crisis territory.

• Compassion fatigue: Several participants raised a red flag about professionals burning out—especially silent burnout. Eyal added, “It’s like watching therapists go flat. Cynical humor all day, checking out emotionally, struggling to engage. These are not personality flaws. They’re warning signs.” Detachment among professionals are early signs of compassion fatigue. We need to notice—and respond.

  
  

What hasn’t changed—but is intensifying:

• System fragmentation: The logistical, systemic gaps are becoming more dangerous than the emotional distress itself. Arik Cohen from ENOSH pointed out that Israel’s mental health system is deeply fragmented. “There’s no central source of truth,” he said. “Even well-connected professionals don’t always know what services exist, who qualifies, or where to refer. Imagine what that’s like for the average person.”

• Unpaid caregivers carry the load: Whether caring for elderly parents or returning psychiatric patients, caregivers are being asked to do too much with too little.

• Emotional exposure remains high: “The shockwave penetrates inward—not just into buildings, but into the soul,” Irit reminded us.

• But the sector keeps showing up: Arik described how ENOSH launched an emergency protocol meeting at 7:30 a.m. the morning after the strike. Others shared similar stories. This is what resilience looks like—not slogans, but fast, coordinated action in the face of real risk. As leaders, we often look at metrics—calls answered, people reached, sessions delivered. But sometimes what matters most is noticing who among our colleagues has become too quiet, too tired, too numb.

  
  

Populations at Risk—Right Now

Ruti Pilz Burstein from Gesher LeChinuch asked, “Where do teens go when youth villages shut down? Many have no families. We’re sending them from structured care to chaos.” 

Rachel Ledany from Caregivers Israel added: “Everything is ‘on top of.’ There are elderly women in the south taking care of disabled spouses in apartments with no shelters. Who is checking in on them?”

Repeatedly, speakers spoke of the people who are falling between the cracks:

• Families of psychiatric patients, are now hosting loved ones unexpectedly released from overcrowded and unprotected psychiatric wards.

• Youth at risk, ejected from youth villages due to security concerns, with no safe alternative and often no functional home to return to.

• Caregivers, juggling elderly or disabled relatives, experiencing the guilt of not being able to bring their loved ones to protection and making impossible decisions: “Do I tell the foreign caregiver to leave my mother and save herself?”

• Therapists and NGO staff themselves, many of whom are traumatized, burnt out, and still expected to function at full capacity.

• Families without protected shelters, forced to choose between physical safety and staying together during sirens and attacks.

• Reservists and their families, navigating repeated rounds of service, prolonged separation, financial strain, and heightened emotional stress.

What Helps?

Despite the grim context, participants shared powerful tools and hopeful practices. 

On the organizational side, those with pre-existing emergency protocols were able to act quickly and provide their teams with clear direction. “Clarity is calming,” noted Arik Cohen. Sharing timely information across organizations about who offers what, and where, also emerged as a critical remedy to the helplessness many feel in moments of chaos.

At the same time, several participants emphasized the importance of emotional and spiritual support for affected populations. Galit Toledano from Or Halev described how her team adapted their retreat model to online formats, offering Zoom-based chanting and prayer circles. “There is space for something beyond urgency. For hope, for presence,” she said. Shira from Layla K’yom Yair spoke about facilitating rap and writing workshops for survivors. “It’s not therapy in the formal sense—but it gives people life. That’s no less important.”

What’s Needed ?

The most repeated request was simple: connection and coordination:

• Better mapping and coordination of services so families know where to turn. The absence of clear, coordinated information—especially in times of crisis—amplifies suffering and delays care. We can’t expect families to navigate the maze.

• Direct support for caregivers of people with physical or mental health challenges—from training to group support to respite options. “Suddenly you’re the full-time nurse, therapist, and case manager for someone who was just discharged from a psychiatric hospital. No one prepared you for that,” said Prof. Eyal Fruchter.

• Protection and continuity for high-risk groups like youth and discharged patients. "We had to send some of the kids home. Not because they were stable — because we had no safe rooms," shared a youth village director.

• Mental health support for staff and volunteers—not just tools, but spaces to recover. “We need supervision. We need space. Not more apps. Space,” said one therapist working with evacuees.

• Connecting and supporting one another - this is one of the strongest sources of hope we have. A participant from the tech sector offered to open access to a therapeutic journaling platform for teens—allowing them to document their feelings privately or share with a therapist if they choose. Others asked for shared contact lists to follow up and collaborate.

This is not about building new systems from scratch. It’s about reinforcing the ones already holding the country together—and making sure no one has to do it alone.

We Also Need to Stay Human

The managers of the NGOs also need recognition: this is frontline work. Burnout in the nonprofit sector is real. And they need time and space to process—like this meeting provided—not just to talk strategy, but to be human.

Eyal closed the session with a reminder from the IDF’s marching ethos: we move only as fast as our slowest person. This moment demands that we close the gaps, see the invisible, and build together—because in this ongoing, collective trauma, fragmentation is as dangerous as the sirens.

What made this meeting different wasn’t just the insights—it was the honesty. People didn’t come to present. They came to say: this is hard. This is what we’re carrying. This is where we need help.

That honesty, and the willingness to stay connected through the chaos, is the most powerful thing we have.

If we want resilience, we’ll have to make room for each other in our shelters—literal and emotional alike.

🎥 Recording available: The session was held in Hebrew. We hope to add English subtitles soon. https://replay.peech.ai/v/csy3dJMINVyu