ARTICLES

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

Trauma is a word we hear often in today’s world. It describes distress, pain, shock, and suffering caused by countless circumstances. Yet war produces unique layers of trauma that affect the mind, body, and spirit. Left unresolved, these wounds often extend into future generations. Research involving Holocaust survivors, as well as populations in Cambodia, Rwanda, and Nigeria, demonstrates that severe trauma can shape families and societies for decades.

Israel is living that reality today. According to Israel’s Ministry of Health, since Hamas launched its murderous assault on October 7, 2023, one in three Israelis has experienced trauma-related distress, and many require professional mental health care. The combination of massacre, ongoing war, hostage uncertainty, and relentless missile attacks has created a level of sustained national trauma unlike anything most countries have experienced.

Despite this enormous emotional burden, compassion for Israel is often in short supply. One reason is that for decades, much of the world’s media has portrayed Israel almost exclusively through the lens of conflict, terrorism, military operations, and political controversy. Those images often overshadow another reality: a nation filled with innovation, compassion, resilience, and an enduring desire for peace. The humanity of ordinary Israelis is too often buried beneath misinformation and distorted narratives.

Modern warfare has also changed the nature of trauma itself. Advanced weapons, nonstop media coverage, and social media have created new psychological burdens for civilians and soldiers alike. Understanding these differences helps explain Israel’s unique situation.

The United States provides an important comparison.

On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. The attacks produced profound national grief, fear of flying, a heightened sense of vulnerability, and years of psychological recovery. America’s subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq claimed 6,887 military lives and left more than 52,000 service members wounded.

The trauma of September 11 was devastating, but it was fundamentally an acute event. Although its emotional effects lasted for years, Americans eventually returned to daily life because the attacks themselves were not repeated every day.

Israel faces a different reality. For decades, Iran’s Islamic Regime and its proxies have subjected Israeli civilians to ongoing threats. Rockets, missiles, drones, terror attacks, hostage crises, cyber warfare, and repeated military conflicts have become part of everyday life.

The same Iranian regime also supplied Iraq with explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, during the Iraq War. These sophisticated roadside bombs killed hundreds of American service members and permanently wounded thousands more. Today, Iran continues to threaten not only Israel but also its own citizens and the broader international community.

The comparison is striking. The United States experienced a national trauma on one terrible day in September 2001. Israel has lived with the equivalent of 9/11-level fear for years, often with no meaningful pause and no geographical buffer separating its civilians from hostile neighbors.

Israeli psychologists increasingly describe this condition not as post-traumatic stress disorder, but as continuous traumatic stress. PTSD assumes the traumatic event has ended. Continuous traumatic stress recognizes that the danger never truly stops. The nervous system remains on constant alert because new threats can emerge at any moment.

Recognizing this growing need, CBN Israel opened its Community Support and Resilience Center in Jerusalem last year. The center serves as both a sanctuary and a source of hope. Christian and Messianic Jewish therapists provide professional outpatient counseling grounded in compassion and inspired by Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The center connects individuals and families with a broad network of mental health professionals and serves all Israelis, including secular Jews, Christians, Israeli Arabs, Jewish believers in Jesus, hostage families, and those who may not qualify for government-funded therapy.

Director Yonatan Almeida, a clinical psychologist and pastor, explains that “the need for trauma care has skyrocketed.” Israelis carry “layers of grief, fear, and shock.”

Director of Programs and Initiatives Arik Pelled adds that “every Israeli is connected to someone who was murdered, kidnapped, or displaced.”

Few families have escaped untouched. Jews, Israeli Arabs, Druze, Christians, active-duty soldiers, reservists, and civilians alike continue to bear enormous emotional burdens. The Resilience Center functions as a faith-based mental health hub, carefully matching everyone with counselors best equipped to meet their specific needs.

Continuous trauma can be difficult for outsiders to understand because most nations experience tragedy in isolated episodes such as Pearl Harbor, September 11, natural disasters, or major wars. Israel’s experience is cumulative.

Centuries of antisemitism, the Holocaust, the expulsion of Jewish communities from Arab lands after 1948, repeated Arab-Israeli wars, decades of terrorism, and the attacks that culminated on October 7 have layered one generation’s pain upon another.

Daily life has become even more challenging since October 7, 2023. Rocket fire threatens communities from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Terror attacks continue in Judea and Samaria. Air raid sirens interrupt work, school, meals, and sleep. Entire towns have been evacuated. Cyberattacks add another layer of uncertainty. Families constantly wonder whether loved ones are safe.

Israel’s trauma is not one catastrophic event followed by recovery. It is an ongoing national condition without a predictable end. Yet Israelis continue to demonstrate extraordinary resilience. They raise families, operate businesses, educate children, celebrate holidays, and serve their communities despite living under continual threat.

Their perseverance is remarkable. Their suffering is real. Israel is fighting physical, emotional, and spiritual battles simultaneously. CBN Israel’s Community Support and Resilience Center exists to help shoulder those burdens by offering professional care, compassionate support, and lasting hope to those living with continuous traumatic stress.

Our CBN Israel team welcomes you to join us in prayer this week. Thank you for standing with Israel and for asking God to bring comfort, healing, and renewed hope to His people.

Prayer Points

• Pray that CBN Israel’s Community Support and Resilience Center will continue to expand its ministry and reach more Israelis in need of healing.
• Pray for strength, wisdom, and endurance for the counselors, therapists, and staff serving those affected by trauma.
• Pray that every Israeli who enters the center will experience comfort, hope, and the shalom of God.
• Pray Psalm 34:18 over Israel: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI). Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection. Her devotionals and articles also appear on her Substack, The Eclectic Evangelical. She serves on the Advisory Board of NewPersia.org and on the advisory committee of RootAndBranchIsrael.com. Having traveled to Israel regularly since 1990, Arlene participates in Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits alongside members of Christian media from around the world. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. In May 2026, The White Rose Society honored Arlene as a non-Jewish individual who stands with the Jewish people.