First Line Med (FLM), a nonprofit organization that provides free physical and mental health support to October 7 victims, their families, and returned hostages, has been forced to suspend services for secondary victims due to insufficient funding, KAN News reported on Monday.
FLM was established on October 7 to support those affected by the massacre. The nonprofit operates with funding from the Israeli government, primarily through the National Insurance Institute and the Defense Ministry, to assist direct victims and their immediate families.
However, due to a lack of funding, those classified as secondary victims will no longer receive government-funded treatment, as stated by KAN.
In response, FLM has turned to the public for financial support to continue providing therapy for victims' family members, KAN added.
Flaws in Israel's mental health system
In February, a report from the State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman revealed significant flaws in Israel’s mental health system, especially regarding support for victims of October 7.
“The system was not prepared to provide the necessary mental health treatments following the events of October 7, nor to ensure the continuity of mental health care,” a previous article from The Jerusalem Post quoted.
Englman noted, “The mental healthcare system, which struggled to function before October 7, collapsed in the first few days of the war.” He added that he had warned the prime minister about these failures in a letter sent about a month after the outbreak of the war, emphasizing that many issues remain unresolved.
Englman also criticized the Health Ministry and its Director General for failing to update the mental health system’s contingency plans for war and other traumatic events and for not developing a dedicated emergency mental health strategy, KAN noted.
The Comptroller report also indicated that the Health Ministry did not actively reach out to at least 20% of October 7 survivors and failed to establish contact to provide psychological assistance.
Additionally, in the six months following the massacre, more than half of the survivors of the Supernova music festival had not received psychological treatment through resilience centers or health funds.
The report also focused on ZAKA (rescue and recovery organization) first responders, revealing that only 13% of its volunteers received mental health treatment from health maintenance organizations or national resilience centers. It emphasized that ZAKA volunteers are regularly exposed to traumatic scenes, significantly impacting their mental health.
“The events of October 7 are an extreme and severe example of this,” the report noted, warning that such exposure puts them at increased risk of PTSD, the Post reported.