A leading Israeli child welfare expert will visit London this month to share how thousands of children are coping with deep psychological trauma following the 7 October attacks and why urgent new approaches to care are needed.
Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, Dean of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which marks its 100th anniversary this year, will headline ‘Children in the Aftermath of 7 October’ at JW3 on 20 May.
The event, organised in partnership with the British Friends of the Hebrew University, will explore the emotional toll of the attacks on displaced children, survivors of atrocities, and young people released from captivity – and how Israeli experts are working to help them heal.
Speaking to Jewish News ahead of the event, Professor Ben-Arieh warned that the trauma inflicted on Israeli children is “unlike anything we have encountered before” and demands a radical rethink of how mental health and resilience are approached.
Professor Asher Ben-Arieh
“We are facing a new type of trauma – one defined by betrayal, prolonged fear, and loss of trust in the adult world,” he said. “We cannot simply apply the same models used for previous crises. We have to listen to the children, respect their autonomy, and be prepared to think out of the box.”
Within days of the 7 October attacks, Professor Ben-Arieh and his team at the Hebrew University, together with the Haruv Institute, were contacted by Israel’s Ministry of Social Affairs to create immediate response protocols. Working under intense pressure, they produced twelve specialist guidelines, each addressing a different group: children displaced from their homes, those who had witnessed atrocities, orphans, returnees from captivity, and teenagers grappling with disrupted social lives and shattered trust.
Training was quickly rolled out not only to social workers but to IDF personnel, Shin Bet interrogators, and hospital staff – anyone who might encounter returning children. Key lessons included teaching officials how to avoid retraumatising children: for example, refusing to answer desperate questions about parents’ fates until psychological support is present and always asking for a child’s permission before making physical contact.
“The first step is returning control to the child,” said Professor Ben-Arieh. “Without that, you cannot start to rebuild their trust in the world around them.”
He also highlighted how traditional evidence-based trauma treatments often fall short for these children, given the ongoing nature of the conflict and the complex layers of loss.
As a result, the Hebrew University is working to pioneer new models through the newly created Israeli National Centre for Innovation in Children’s Resilience and Mental Health, a project that seeks to support experimental interventions, even at the risk of failure.
Some of what we try will fail. But if even one of two ideas succeeds, they could transform the way we support traumatised children in the future,” he said.
Professor Ben-Arieh said restoring trust is key, not only at an individual level but across communities, schools and national institutions. He shared examples of teenagers demanding to stay together at newly created schools for displaced pupils and children insisting on being consulted in decisions about their recovery.
“Children tell us, ‘Everyone listens to us, but no one really hears us,’” he said. “We need humility. We need to ask, not tell.”
Despite the scale of trauma, Professor Ben-Arieh said the resilience shown by many young people offers hope. “Their strength, their solidarity, and their determination to rebuild are extraordinary” – a sign, he added, of hope not only for recovery today but for what the next 100 years may hold.
Tickets for “Children in the Aftermath of 7 October” at JW3 are now on sale.
