IDF Reservists Face Silent Struggle as NGOs Call for National Support Standard
Three years after October 7, thousands of IDF reservists suffer from unaddressed combat stress. Three NGOs are calling on the state to establish a national support standard for returning soldiers.
Three years after the events of October 7, hundreds of thousands of reservists have returned from prolonged tours of duty to their homes, families, workplaces, and studies. While some cope with diagnosed post-traumatic stress and receive treatment, many others continue to function while suffering from sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, anger outbursts, emotional numbness, and guilt. Undiagnosed, their struggles remain under the radar until they worsen. These individuals constitute the silent majority of combat forces, left to cope without state support.
A collaboration between three organizations—Bishvil HaMahar, led by CEO Lavi Zamir; Masa Shichrur from the Metiv center, led by Racheli Brooks; and Olat HaShachar from the Shachar organization, led by CEO Nadav Kramer—has conducted nearly 800 processing expeditions, involving approximately 11,000 discharged combat soldiers. Yet, approximately 1,000 groups comprising some 15,000 fighters remain on waiting lists.
Life-Changing Expeditions and Brain Adaptation
Dr. Danny Brom, founder and director of Metiv: The Israel Psychotrauma Center at Herzog Hospital, which operates the Masa Shichrur program, cites Tel Aviv University research involving brain scans before recruitment, during service, and after discharge. The scans demonstrate that the brain physically alters upon entering combat service as an adaptation mechanism.
"People who enter combat change. Physically, the brain changes as an adaptation to combat," Dr. Brom says. "The question is what happens when you return home with this change." He describes a tank driver returning from Gaza who sat on his home balcony and experienced acute anxiety within two minutes, realizing retrospectively that he felt exposed and vulnerable. "No one prepares you to return home with a different brain."
According to Dr. Brom, the toll is well-documented: sound sensitivity, intimacy difficulties, concentration issues at work, job loss, and family breakdown. Group processing expeditions offer an effective field-tested response. Masa Shichrur organizes eight-day expeditions in Jewish communities abroad, while Olat HaShachar conducts five-day programs in isolated natural settings.
The Need for a National Standard
Nadav Kramer explains that the daily schedule combines mind-body exercises, movement, dialogue circles, healthy food, laughter, and silence. "The 'challenge as choice' principle allows every participant to decide if and how to share," he notes. Racheli Brooks adds that participants acquire new emotional skills and learn to exit survival mode, noting how family members also benefit from these tools.
Despite a 2021 study estimating that every shekel invested in Bishvil HaMahar yields an 11-shekel return to the economy, and despite a dedicated support regulation established by the Ministry of Defense in 2017, state funding covers only 5% to 10% of the organizations' budgets. Consequently, organizations struggle with fundraising to cover costs as waiting lists grow.
The three organizations are calling for a national, professional support basket for reservists and their families, creating a continuum of care from civilian readjustment to clinical intervention. Dr. Brom emphasizes that early processing prevents years of suffering, mitigates post-traumatic stress symptoms, and prevents minor difficulties from escalating into severe psychological trauma.
