Israel's MDA launches mental health emergency unit amid surge in crisis calls after Oct 7

Israel’s emergency medical service agency Magen David Adom (MDA) has established a dedicated mental health emergency response unit in coordination with the Health Ministry, as the country reports a sharp increase in crisis-related calls following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel.

The new unit was launched in cooperation with the Israeli Health Ministry with the aim of improving mental health-related emergencies through a national hotline. The MDA reported that the number of mental crisis calls increased from 19,000 in 2024 to 27,623 in 2025, representing a 45% increase over the course of a year. The dramatic rise in demand for mental healthcare services is reportedly linked to the multifront war that Israel has faced against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the regime-led terror proxies, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Dr. Raphael Strugo, deputy director-general of medicine and blood services at MDA, assessed the complexity of providing professional emergency mental health services.

“Mental health emergencies are some of the most complex and emotionally charged situations our teams face,” he said.

“As the number of crises increases, MDA is committed to ensuring these individuals get the care they need. By embedding mental health professionals directly into our emergency response, we’re giving our teams the tools to provide the highest quality care, even in the most difficult moments,” Strugo added.

When deemed necessary, the service dispatches an intervention team consisting of a paramedic and a mental health nurse, with access to a psychiatrist for further evaluation if required.

While Israeli society has shown resilience amid the multifront war, the country is also facing a growing mental health crisis. A January poll conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services found that nearly one-third of Israelis require some form of professional mental health support. The survey also indicated that 17% of respondents rated their mental state as fair to poor, compared with 13% before the Oct. 7 attack. The assault is widely described as the deadliest single-day attack on Jews since the Holocaust, with 1,200 killed and 251. Hamas and other terrorists also abducted 251 people from southern Israel, including children, women, and elderly individuals.

In March, Israel launched a national trauma and resilience research lab in the southern region, which includes some of the communities most severely affected by the attack.

The current mental health crisis is considered the most severe in the history of the State of Israel, however, the nation's broader mental health services network was already widely regarded as under-resourced and underfunded prior to the war.

“Even before the outbreak of war, the public mental health system was significantly deficient, which was visible through, among other things, repeated claims of a significantly lacking budget, a lack of personnel, long waiting times for psychotherapeutic or psychiatric treatment, and poor infrastructure in mental health hospitals,” according to a report presented to the Knesset Health Committee in November 2023.

At least half a million Israelis have required mental health assistance since Oct. 7, the Israeli Health Ministry reported in January.