October 7 survivors' entitlement to mental health treatments to be increased

In the past two weeks, the Israeli government has made decisions which will enable increased access to treatments for October 7 survivors.

First, the government has recognized soldiers who were present at the Nova festival, though not on duty, as eligible for financial compensation like other survivors.

Second, the Health Ministry and the National Insurance Institute announced that an additional 12 sessions will extend eligibility for mental health treatments beyond the initial 36 sessions available to the survivors. This comes after hundreds of survivors completed their treatment quota and were left without state mental health support.

These demands were raised during discussions in the Knesset’s special committee on youth, chaired by MK Naama Lazimi, as well as in various Knesset committees initiated by MK Karin Elharrar, who fought alongside Meirav Gili Hirsh, founder of the Tribe of Nova initiative for rights of party victims, and Efrat Eton, CEO of the "Safe Heart" organization.

Families of survivors

This follows a decision earlier this month to allow family members of Nova Festival survivors to access professional counseling subsidized by Israel's National Insurance Institute.

The trauma experienced by survivors often extends to their families, who also struggle with the aftermath. According to a report by Maariv, these families will soon have access to subsidized psychological counseling.

Peled Arbeli contributed to this report.