Ministry of Health presents expansion of mental health services | Israeli suicide statistics
The "Makom Lenefesh" program, which was allocated a budget of nearly $500 million, formed after Oct. 7 massacre. Its health funds are treating around 435,000 patients
Two and a half years after October 7th, the Ministry of Health today (Sunday) presented an expansion of public mental health services, alongside a new public awareness campaign to provide accessible tools, reduce stigma, and encourage seeking help.
About two and a half years after the launch of "Makom Lenefesh," the national program for mental health, the Ministry of Health presented an update on the progress of the program's implementation, which was formulated following the events of October 7 and the subsequent war.
The program was allocated a budget of nearly $500 million dollars, making this the largest ever allocation of funds to the field of mental health in Israel. It was intended to strengthen and expand the public mental health system, while creating a broad continuum of responses and adapting the services to the needs of the patient. The funds treat approximately 435,000 patients within their mental health clinics, which is an increase of about 100,000 patients since the start of the program.
Now, the Ministry of Health is launching the "Everything That Helps" project—an audio-visual initiative in cooperation with the Government Advertising Bureau (LAPAM)—aimed at raising awareness about mental health, making information and practical tools accessible to the public, and encouraging open discourse around anxiety and mental health challenges. At the center of the project are four original musical pieces on the topic of anxiety, written and composed by Assi Azar and Avi Ohayon, and performed by Itay Levy, Nasreen Qadri, Roni Dalumi, and Ran Danker.
The ministry also published data on suicide in Israel. "Israel has a low rate of suicide cases compared to most countries in the world. Suicide data over recent years, including the years of the coronavirus and the war, show stability. Since this is an absolute number that has remained stable over years of demographic growth, it actually represents a consistent and significant decrease in suicide data over the years," the report states.
Number of suicide cases reported to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine (representing about two-thirds of suicide cases):
Between the years 2017–2019, 293 cases were recorded; in 2020, 306 cases were recorded; in 2021, 278 cases were recorded; in 2022, 306 cases were recorded; in 2023, 284 cases were recorded; in 2024, 244 cases were recorded (a decrease attributed to resilience and cohesion at the start of the war); and in 2025, 293 cases were recorded (the same number as in the years 2017–2019 before the coronavirus).
At the beginning of 2026, there was a significant decrease in the number of suicide cases, which is characteristic during wartime, in light of the "Lion's Roar." Thus, according to the data (which constitute about two-thirds of suicide cases), the average number of suicide cases from January to March was 59, compared to previous years in which the average for January to March was 73 cases in 2025, 61 cases in 2024, and 77 cases in 2023.