Record £2m raised to ease Israel’s spiralling PTSD crisis

The mental health crisis facing Israel’s veterans was the focus of Beit Halochem UK’s annual dinner amid warnings that the thousands of extra Israelis supported by the charity since 7 October are set to triple as a result of PTSD.

The numbers receiving therapy and rehabilitation at one of Beit Halochem’s five state-of-the-art centres around Israel have swelled from 20,000 to more than 70,000 because of injuries sustained in Gaza and Lebanon.

But the chief executive of the charity’s UK arm warned that the country had so far only seen the “tip of the iceberg” of the PTSD crisis.

Spencer Gelding said: “Beit Halochem and PTSD are among the most important things in Israel now because we are looking at an iceberg. We only see the tip of the iceberg, and underneath there is a big chunk. That iceberg is the trauma of Israel, the people in the north and south and the children in the centre and the wounded soldiers.”

A powerful appeal video told 500 guests at the Royal Lancaster Hotel about three veterans who have been helped by the charity over the last 32 months. Among them was Einav, who was overcome by depression after spending months cleaning the possessions of soldiers who fell in battle before they were handed to family members. Fighting back tears, she spoke of how no one had wanted to listen to her in her darkest days until she found the counsellors of Beit Halochem, who helped transform her life.

Also featured was Ido, who recalled lying in a “deep hole bleeding out” after an explosion in Gaza that claimed the lives of four of his comrades. “Ever since then, people have asked me what’s changed since 7 October. I said before I felt more Israeli than Jewish, and now I feel more Jewish than Israeli. I stand here on behalf of my fellow veterans to say thank you. Your support doesn’t just change lives, it saves them.”

British-born Zwi, who spent a year and eight months in Gaza and Lebanon, was among the speakers. He recalled “trying to stand and realising my legs were no longer responding” after his force was hit by an IED during combat operations in Gaza in May last year. And he described how Beit Halochem was key to his rehabilitation. “I wondered if there was anything more powerful than pain. I discovered the answer is yes: real human love. People who turn up for you when you’re broken, people who show your life still has dignity even if you can’t see it. Even after trauma and pain, a person can learn to live and love again.”

In conversation with broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky, Beit Halochem veteran Eytan Fassberg- Yaffe told Kaplinsky of the impacts of war people can’t see and how, for a period after his service, he couldn’t “see a need to leave the house at all.

“Until Beit Halochem called. Suddenly, there are people who understand me, and we’re all there for each other.” He said he was hopeful about the future because “until the injury, I knew there were Jews around the world, but never felt them. Now I’ve felt the warmth of all the communities around the world. This gives me hope because I know in my darkest days I’m truly not alone”.

The event raised more than £2m towards seven specialist PTSD clinics at the charity’s facility in Beer Sheva and to train competitors for the next Paralympics.

In a video message, President Isaac Herzog paid tribute to BHUK chair Andrew Wolfson and said: “Amid so much heartbreak, this time has asked for us all to step forward. There’s no one whose call has been stronger for than our veterans. Many of these brave veterans carry the mark of their sacrifice on their bodies. That is why it is so great that Beit Halochem acts on behalf of us all to support Israel’s veterans.”

Michaela Meyohas, who chaired the dinner with Katie Cutler, said: “Each facility is more than a rehab centre. It is a second home

“When Israelis fell, they didn’t fall alone. They fell as part of us. This is not charity. This is the fabric of our people.” More than £52m has been raised in total by the charity in 14 years, she said.

Addressing the veterans who spoke at the event, trustee Orly Wolfson said: “Your strength and humanity inspire us all. Thank you for everything you’ve done and continue to do for our people and our homeland. You truly are our heroes.”