Did Israelis Get Mental Health Care After October 7?
90% of 1,010 people surveyed sought no treatment, the State Comptroller reported in 2025, with about 23,000 of 210,000 evacuees treated.
90% of 1,010 people surveyed sought no treatment, the State Comptroller of Israel reported in a 2025 special report on mental health care following the 7 October 2023 attack and the Iron Swords war. The survey is the State Comptroller’s own, run on its own instrument with a base of 1,010 people, and the symptom shares in it are self-reported. The same report records about 23,000 of roughly 210,000 evacuees treated within six months, and 52% of Nova festival survivors, about 1,900 people, untreated.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 90% | Share of survey respondents who sought no treatment | 2025 special report |
| 34% | Share of survey respondents reporting post-trauma | 2025 special report |
| about 23,000 | Evacuees treated, about 11% of roughly 210,000 | Within six months |
| 4% | Share of evacuee children in Sderot treated | 2025 special report |
| 52%, about 1,900 people | Nova festival survivors untreated | 2025 special report |
| 15,750 | People treated at Resilience Centres, 50,734 treatments | 2025 special report |
| 6.5 months | Wait recorded at the health funds | 2025 special report |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Mental Health Care Following the October 7th Attack and the Iron Swords War, special report 2025-S-001, 2025.
90% of 1,010 people surveyed sought no treatment
The State Comptroller of Israel surveyed 1,010 people and found 34% reporting post-trauma, 32% depression and 21% anxiety, alongside the 90% who sought no treatment. The survey is the audit institution’s own count on its own instrument, the responses are self-reported rather than clinically diagnosed, and the three symptom shares overlap, so they belong to the same 1,010 respondents and cannot be added together.
About 23,000 of 210,000 evacuees were treated within six months
The State Comptroller of Israel reported that about 11% of roughly 210,000 evacuees, about 23,000 people, were treated within six months, and that among evacuee children in Sderot the share treated was 4%. These are the audit institution’s own figures for the evacuated population only, counted on a six-month threshold from the start of the war, and they are not shares of the general public.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| roughly 210,000 | Evacuees in the audit’s population | 2025 special report |
| about 23,000 | Evacuees treated, about 11% | Within six months |
| 4% | Evacuee children in Sderot treated | 2025 special report |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, special report 2025-S-001, 2025.
52% of Nova survivors, about 1,900 people, went untreated
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 52% of the survivors of the Nova festival, about 1,900 people, as untreated. The 1,900 is a count of survivors who went untreated, not of survivors in total, and it is the audit institution’s own count. The same report gives the toll at the festival itself.
- 52%, about 1,900 people: survivors of the Nova festival untreated
- about 400: people murdered at the festival
- 44: people kidnapped from the festival
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, special report 2025-S-001, 2025.
Resilience Centres gave 50,734 treatments to 15,750 people
The State Comptroller of Israel counted 50,734 treatments provided by the Resilience Centres to 15,750 people, which the audit institution puts at 0.16% of the population, on a 2024 budget of NIS 149.6 million. Treatments and people are different units, so the two figures are not two readings of one quantity. The 0.16% is coverage against the whole population rather than a share of those who sought care.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 50,734 | Treatments provided at the Resilience Centres | 2025 special report |
| 15,750 | People treated, being 0.16% of the population | 2025 special report |
| NIS 149.6 million | Resilience Centres budget | 2024 |
| 450 | People waiting at Ashkelon | February 2024 |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, special report 2025-S-001, 2025.
No national count of Israelis treated appears in the audit
The State Comptroller of Israel publishes subgroup shares, channel counts and a wait of 6.5 months at the health funds, and it publishes no combined total of people treated across the health funds, the hospitals and the Resilience Centres. The channel figures are the audit institution’s own counts of separate delivery channels and may not be added into one national number. The same audit institution separately recorded 553 children waiting for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment in April 2022, a queue measured before the attack in its audit of children’s hospitalisation and on a different definition.
- 6.5 months: wait recorded at the health funds, 2025 special report
- 3%: share of firearms licence applicants flagged on mental fitness, down from a range of 4% to 10%, 2025 special report
- 553: children waiting for inpatient or day psychiatric treatment, April 2022, from the audit of children’s hospitalization
Which figures here may not be added together?
The State Comptroller of Israel reports the 90% as a share of its own 1,010 survey respondents and the 11% as a share of roughly 210,000 evacuees, so the two describe different populations and are not two views of one figure. The 34%, 32% and 21% symptom shares overlap within the same 1,010 respondents. The 2025 report also names a NIS 31.87 million base and a NIS 34.66 million supplement within the 2024 Resilience Centres budget, and those two components do not sum to the NIS 149.6 million total, so they are not a decomposition of it. The figures for the murdered and the kidnapped at the Nova festival belong to the event and are aggregates.
Questions readers ask
How many people did the audit survey?
The State Comptroller of Israel surveyed 1,010 people for its 2025 special report on mental health care after the attack and the war.
What share of those surveyed reported post-trauma?
The State Comptroller of Israel found 34% reporting post-trauma, 32% depression and 21% anxiety, all self-reported and all within the same base of 1,010 people.
How long was the wait at the health funds?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded a wait of 6.5 months at the health funds in its 2025 special report.
How many evacuees received treatment?
The State Comptroller of Israel reported about 23,000 evacuees treated within six months, about 11% of roughly 210,000.
What share of evacuee children in Sderot were treated?
The State Comptroller of Israel put the share of evacuee children in Sderot treated at 4%.
How many Nova festival survivors went untreated?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 52% of survivors, about 1,900 people, as untreated.
How many people did the Resilience Centres treat?
The State Comptroller of Israel counted 15,750 people treated at the Resilience Centres, across 50,734 treatments.
What did the Resilience Centres cost in 2024?
The State Comptroller of Israel reported a 2024 Resilience Centres budget of NIS 149.6 million.
How many people were waiting at Ashkelon?
The State Comptroller of Israel recorded 450 people waiting at Ashkelon in February 2024.
Does the audit give a national total of people treated?
No. The State Comptroller of Israel publishes shares by group and counts by channel, and publishes no combined national total of people treated.
Did the mental fitness flag rate for firearms applicants change?
The State Comptroller of Israel reported that the rate at which firearms applicants were flagged on mental fitness fell to 3%, from a range of 4% to 10%.
Does the same institution publish other medical waiting times?
Yes. In a separate 2024 audit of specialist medical services, the State Comptroller of Israel recorded appointments booked more than 90 days ahead rising from 221,573 to 290,105 at Clalit and from 360,010 to 513,517 at Maccabi, a measure of specialist care generally rather than of mental health.
Sources
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2025. Mental Health Care Following the October 7th Attack and the Iron Swords War. Special report 2025-S-001, Swords of Iron series. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2024. Waiting Times for Specialist Medical Services. Chapter 601, annual report 75A part B, November 2024. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2023. Children’s Hospitalization in Hospitals. Ministry of Health chapter, annual report, May 2023. fs.knesset.gov.il. Official or primary record.
