Families of hostages and bereaved relatives are warning that the expected dissolution of the Knesset could delay long-promised mental health and rehabilitation support. They say that since October 7 they have faced severe emotional, health, and financial consequences, yet the full range of rights and services they need still has not been formalized.
The families want the state to recognize the psychological impact of the kidnapping period, expand rehabilitation assistance, compensate those who stopped working or saw their earning ability harmed, and create transition grants to help them rebuild. Carmit Palty Katzir, daughter of Rami and Hanna Katzir and sister of Elad Katzir, said she lost three family members in a year and a half, with her father murdered, her mother and brother taken alive, her mother later dying from the effects of captivity, and her brother murdered after surviving 99 days. She said there is no recognition of the special needs created by what she called an unprecedented, ongoing terror event.
Palty Katzir said families have stopped their lives for more than two years to fight for their loved ones, and argued that returning to their former lives is unrealistic without a broad rehabilitation package. She said the state must acknowledge the massacre, the prolonged captivity, the uncertainty, the psychological terror, and the horrific videos, adding, "There is no recovery without recognition and taking responsibility." Esther Buchstab, mother of Yagev Buchstab, said some people think the story ended when hostages and bodies were returned, but for families "the recovery has only just begun." She said trauma, anxiety, and the personal and family cost still remain.
For months, families have worked with Organizations 255 and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum alongside lawmakers on bills to establish benefits, including a transition stipend for relatives whose earning capacity was damaged by their efforts and expanded grants for spouses and parents of returned hostages or recovered deceased hostages. The proposals have cross-party backing from opposition MKs Gilad Kariv and Vladimir Beliak and coalition MK Yitzhak Kroizer, but they have not yet reached the Ministerial Committee for Legislation. The families now fear the legislation will be left for the next government unless ministers act immediately through a cabinet decision.
