Lawmakers Shocked to Learn Families of Israeli Abductees Denied Mental Health Care

Jerusalem, 4 March, 2024 (TPS) -- Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza told shocked members of the Knesset Health Committee on Monday that they have been denied access to mental health services despite dealing with depression, dysfunction and physical exhaustion, while other family members said they felt neglected.

Since the October 7 attacks 150 days ago, “Not one representative of the government of Israel has called or spoken to me,” Nisan Kalderon told lawmakers. His brother, Ofer, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. “I said two weeks ago that I will kill myself because I am suffocating. I don’t eat, I am going crazy and cannot sleep. I take sleeping pills.”

In a heated moment, Kalderon berated the government for not checking in the well-being of the families. “‘Are you alive? Do you need help?’ That is all that was needed. One call. At the time of elections we are inundated with text messages,” he exclaimed.

Committee chairman, MK Yoni Mashriki pledged that the family members will receive mental health care, even after the hostages are released. He called on the Ministry of Health to make treatment more accessible, shorten waiting times and reduce bureaucracy.

Mishriki also asked officials to make proactive contact once a week with relatives who did not express a willingness to receive psychological assistance and to offer them such assistance.

Relatives also told lawmakers that family members defined as “secondary relatives,” such as grandfathers, uncles, and nephews, were not entitled to mental health care at all.

Advocating for the families, Professor Hagai Levin, highlighted the mental suffering inflicted by the prolonged uncertainty surrounding their missing relatives. He called for the appointment of a nurse liaison and called for care to be extended to distant relatives.

Dr. Eran Rotman, head of the health division at Maccabi, one of Israel’s largest healthcare providers, revealed deteriorating health among the abductees’ families. A survey of the families found that 80% of female family members reported a decline in health perception — double the prevalence in the general population.

Meanwhile, 21% of the family members reported losing significant weight and a more than two-fold increase in the use of drugs to treat anxiety and depression. Rotman added that 93% of the relatives surveyed said their sleep was disrupted.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.