Israeli Lawmakers Push for Integrated Care at Dual-Diagnosis Conference

Hundreds of people with mental illness and their family members gathered Monday in the Knesset for a special conference called "Double Recovery," led by MK Michal Waldiger, chair of the parliamentary lobby for mental health, together with the Family Mental Health Association. The event focused on dual diagnosis, where a person is dealing at the same time with a psychiatric condition and substance addiction, with both problems reinforcing each other.

Speakers described a severe gap in public services, saying the mental health system and the addiction system operate as two separate worlds with different rules, facilities, and professionals. As a result, patients are forced to navigate both systems on their own at the lowest point in their lives, and many fall through the cracks.

The debate also highlighted the exclusion of families. Participants said relatives are often the only stable support over years of illness, yet they are kept out of decision-making. The conference was presented as a step toward changes in policy and funding, with Finance Minister and Minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich, National Missions Minister Orit Strock, other lawmakers, and singer Eli Botner attending in support.

Waldiger said her main goal is to transfer responsibility to the state and adopt a "therapeutic triangle" model, which treats the patient, the family, and the professional as equal partners in recovery. Organizers are also pressing for inter-ministerial cooperation and the implementation of the "Housing First" approach to create a single, comprehensive rehabilitation framework.