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Rosh Hashana 2026: From Emergency to Responsibility
Every Rosh Hashana, I return to the same question: What does this moment ask of us? In 2024, less than…
What Happens Between Asking for Help and Actually Getting It?
On July 20, 2026, representatives of 32 organizations gathered for an ICAR Collective roundtable on mental health support in Arab…
Before Therapy: Nafas.ai Is Building a Different Entry Point into Mental Health for Arab Communities
Nafas.ai began with a moment of not knowing. Rabea Shamaly was working as an AI engineer after completing his studies…
EventsHealing a Nation: Addressing Israelโs Mental Health โWicked Problemโ
On the second day of the 2025 General Assembly, at the end of a panel called Healing a Nation: Addressing the Mental Health Crisis in Israel, one phrase captured the essence of what we are facing. Israel is living through is a wicked problem: โa problem so complex that every attempted solution reveals new challenges."
PerspectivesWhen the Nation Is Under Threat, Many Women Are Too
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Trauma raises the emotional temperature in households already under strain; it stretches coping mechanisms thin. And too often, women and children are the ones absorbing that volatility.
EventsWhat Happens When 50 Organizations Sit Around One Table – A shared Learning Day hosted by ICAR Collective in partnership with the Lion Family
50 organizations came together for a shared Learning Day hosted by ICAR Collective in partnership with the Lion Family to focus on What it will take to build a coordinated mental-health ecosystem that can carry Israel through the next decade and beyond.
EventsโNo One Left Behindโ: What it takes to build a path for discharged soldiers and their families
The ICAR CollectiveโMomentum roundtable on September 29th brought together people who rarely sit at the same table. Around it were senior representatives from ~35 key stakeholders in the field. This was only a small sample. The goal was not to celebrate collaboration but to face what isnโt working, and to ask whether a coordinated system of care for soldiers and their families is still possible.
SpotlightSpotlight on the Niv Nirel Center: Healing Trauma with Structure, Insight, and Heart
The Niv Nirel Center was founded in memory of Niv Raviv and Nirel Zini, who were murdered in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7. It offers professional trauma care for those who suffer from combat or general army service trauma, including members of Israelโs security forces and their families. Rather than treating trauma as a clinical issue alone, the center builds care around the reality that trauma touches every part of life: the body, the home, the community, and the bureaucracy survivors face.
EventsPost-Traumatic Growth Is a Practice.
On September 12, 2025 ICAR Collective hosted a webinar on post-traumatic growth (PTG) with Dr. Edith Shiroโclinical psychologist, author of The Unexpected Gift of Traumaโand Prof. Eyal Fruchterโpsychiatrist, PTSD expert, and ICARโs Head of Medical & Scientific Affairs. It was an hour of straight talk with no sugarcoating and real tools.
EventsWhat We Learn by Sitting in the Same Room
On September 9th, we gathered at Startup Nation Central in Tel Aviv for a morning that felt both urgent and grounding. The Margaret and Daniel Loeb Foundation, together with ICAR Collective, brought together grantees and donors to look closely at the mental health response in Israel after October 7.
PerspectivesOctober 7, Simchat Torah, and Sukkot: Living the Arc of Fragility
This year, Oct 7th falls on Sukkot. The sukkah, fragile by design, reminds us that life is temporary and uncertain. It reflects where we find ourselves nowโas a people dwelling in vulnerability.
EventsPsychoeducation: Bringing Clarity and Dignity to All
Psychoeducationโteaching people about trauma and mental healthโcan transform confusion into clarity and restore dignity for those rebuilding their lives. Prof. Jonathan Huppert of Hebrew University joined our webinar about normalizing trauma responses, debunking myths around PTSD, and the urgent need for accessible tools that reach people where they are.
PerspectivesTisha BโAv: Carrying Loss, Choosing Healing
Tisha BโAv invites us to pause, grieve, and process centuries of Jewish loss while choosing healing for the next generation. This year, after nearly two years of war, its wisdom feels especially relevant.
EventsWhy Trauma Healing Needs a New Compass: Takeaways from ICARโs Webinar on Public Health Surveillance
Professor Dorit Nitzan and Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer spoke about trauma healing with focus on the role of public health surveillance. Public health surveillance, done well is the difference between waiting for collapse and steering toward recovery.
PerspectivesIsrael needs to build a better system to handle mental health crises
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post on June 19, 2025. In a time of war, urgency is expected. Yet when it comes to trauma and mental health, Israelโs response remains fragmented and slow. This op-ed by ICAR Collective Executive Director Gila Tolub calls for coordinated national action to address the mental health crisis unfolding since October 7โbefore the long-term consequences deepen.
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