Ono Scholars Weigh in on the Long-Term Effects of the Gaza Conflict on Israel’s Children, Health, and Economy

Three scholars who teach at Ono Academic College were recently interviewed by the Jerusalem Post about the ways in which the war with Hamas is having long-term effects on Israel’s children, health, and economy.

Yehuda Leeman, a psychotherapist and lecturer at Ono Academic College, noted the extremely high incidence of trauma among children since October 7th.  Nearly half of Israel’s 3 million children have suffered from trauma. Leeman said that the number of children who will need emotional support is expected to be unprecedented – “numbers that we never, ever dealt with in any previous war.”

Ayelet Barak-Nahum, a culinary art therapist and social worker who teaches at Ono explained how war stress fuels unhealthy eating. “When we get older, and we are on the edge – like we are now – and we are looking to get rebalanced to bring down the stress, many of us use food to calm us down,” she said.

Dr. Ido Kallir, the Director of Ono’s BA program in Actuarial Studies and its BA program in Finance discussed the war’s contributions to inflation. He noted that prior to the war, inflation was already high. In addition the tensions caused by the civil strife surrounding Israel’s judicial reform caused Israel to lose “. . . the trust of some of the important bodies in the international financial world, and then came the war.” To read the full article, click here: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-777163