Introduction
The Arab society in Israel is facing a severe crisis in the field of mental health, characterized by a significant shortage of professional personnel and limited access to services—despite comprising nearly one-fifth of the country’s population. This reality reflects one of the most profound structural disparities within the Israeli healthcare system. Data from recent studies paint a troubling picture: although Arab citizens represent approximately 21% of the population, their representation among mental health professionals ranges only between 1.4% and 2.5% of the field’s key practitioners. This gap is not merely a statistical anomaly; it is the manifestation of a complex crisis that directly impacts the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of individuals.
In light of the structural challenges facing Arab society, Qudra Network is working to build a sustainable community infrastructure by mobilizing philanthropy and expanding the culture of giving. It adopts a multi-level approach that includes supporting initiatives, producing knowledge, and developing strategic tools with a focus on three core forms of resilience: psychological, occupational and personal.
Within this framework, Qudra launched a dedicated interest group focused on community-based psychological resilience. This initiative marks the culmination of two years of continuous work in the mental health field, particularly during times of emergency. During these periods, the network supported Arab organizations and treatment centers through direct donations and the creation of strategic partnerships with both local and international philanthropic foundations, in response to deep systemic gaps and urgent community needs.
In response to the growing mental health needs within Arab society, a joint initiative was launched with UJA-Federation of New York in late 2024 to map the existing support ecosystem for mental health services. This initiative aimed to identify gaps, capacities, and opportunities for development, and focused on two complementary components:
- A field mapping of centers and civil society organizations providing direct mental health services (Annex 1), conducted through in-depth interviews exploring the types of services offered, geographic distribution, target populations, and emergency responses—particularly following October 7. Additional surveys were also carried out with organizations not specialized in mental health but who initiated new interventions in the field in response to recent crises (Annex 2). The analysis was further enriched by reviewing data from the Guidestar platform.
- Professional surveys targeting mental health practitioners, designed to better understand the current reality of Arab professionals in the field. The surveys addressed their daily challenges and identified needs in areas such as training and supervision. Respondents included therapists, counselors, and social workers based in the Galilee and the Northern region.
Together, these efforts offer an unprecedented field-level understanding of both practitioners and institutions. They reveal persistent gaps-including workforce shortages, coordination challenges, and resource constraints while simultaneously highlighting the resilience, innovation, and deep community roots of existing actors.
This mid-report synthesizes these findings into a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape, with the goal of guiding donors, civil society, stakeholders, and decision-makers toward key leverage points for building a mental health system that is more effective, equitable, and culturally grounded. It amplifies the voices of frontline professionals and active organizations and presents a roadmap for sustainable interventions that are sensitive to language, culture, and geographic context.
This project represents a forward-looking strategic opportunity to reshape the mental health landscape in Arab society—grounded in dignity, trust, and community empowerment, and driven by a shared commitment to long-term resilience.
1. Mapping of Professional Mental Health Practitioners and Active Civil Society Organizations in the Mental Health Field
1.1 Mapping Mental Health Professionals: Current Challenges and Opportunities for Development in Arab Society
The survey among mental health professionals—including psychologists, art therapists, and social workers—highlights a committed workforce with significant practical expertise. These practitioners constitute a vital force in building culturally rooted and community-based mental health responses. Yet, professionals report burnout, isolation, and a lack of capacity-building opportunities tailored to their cultural and linguistic context.
63% of respondents reported they had attended training in mental health, but most described it as superficial, unavailable in Arabic, and detached from their lived realities.
Participants expressed a strong demand for trauma-informed, Arabic-language accredited training in grief, PTSD, community-based care, and child/adolescent mental health.
1.2 Mapping Civil Society Organizations
Qudra’s analysis of Arab civil society organizations working in the field of mental health reveals a complex landscape. According to data from “Guidestar” and a field survey conducted in 2025, out of 2,016 registered Arab NGOs, only 42 engage in some capacity with mental health-related issues.
A closer analysis, however, shows that most of these organizations do not provide direct, professional psychological treatment.
Registered Arab NGOs
Engage in some capacity with mental health-related issues
28 organizations offer general psychosocial support to various population groups, including patients, children with learning difficulties, the elderly, refugees, at-risk youth, women survivors of violence, persons with disabilities, and orphans. While these organizations constitute an important social safety net, they do not serve as a substitute for professional clinical care.
The remaining 14 organizations offer more professional services, such as psychological counseling and therapy, diagnostics, emotional and educational programs, psychosocial rehabilitation, and therapy through art or nature. However, these services often remain complementary and do not reach the level of structured clinical mental health treatment.
Perhaps the most concerning finding is that only one organization is explicitly dedicated to promoting mental health in Arab society and even it operates primarily within the broader field of public health, rather than offering direct psychological care. This reality reflects a lack of sectoral leadership and fragmented long-term vision for mental health within Arab civil society.
To deepen this understanding, Qudra Network conducted a targeted field survey and interviews with 19 Arab NGOs actively working in mental health, primarily located in the Nazareth, Haifa, and Galilee regions. These organizations serve a range of populations—children, youth, women, persons with disabilities, refugees, and the elderly—offering essential community-based responses within constrained resource environments.
To gain a deeper understanding of the current state of mental health services, Qudra Network conducted a qualitative field mapping that included interviews with 15 organizations and institutions active in the mental health field, alongside conversations with leading professionals from the field. These included fully Arab organizations, as well as Jewish and mixed institutions that provide meaningful and effective services to Arab society.
The mapping focused on the Galilee, Haifa, and Nazareth regions, aiming to shed light on the nature of services provided, target populations, and the tools used to adapt following crises.
Findings revealed that organizations working within Arab communities play a central role in supporting community-based mental health. They deliver flexible and responsive services to a wide range of groups—including children, women, youth, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Despite this important work and the innovative models these organizations have developed, the mapping also uncovered significant gaps, indicating that the current response still falls short of meeting the growing needs. This highlights the urgent need to expand support, enhance coordination, and strengthen sustainability in the field.
While their work forms a critical safety net, the findings underscore a central insight: Arab civil society plays an indispensable yet often under-supported role in mental health. However, its efforts are frequently limited by lack of recognition, insufficient clinical infrastructure, and the absence of coordinated strategy and vision.
Civil Society Response Post-October 7:
Following the October 7 crisis, civil society organizations mobilized swiftly to meet the emotional and psychological needs of affected communities. Their interventions included:
- Emergency trauma response: Immediate support to individuals and families experiencing acute stress.
- Group sessions and support circles: Tailored for families, women, and children to promote shared healing.
- Community outreach and home visits: Especially for elderly individuals and those experiencing isolation.
- Remote support services: Psychological counseling via Zoom, telephone hotlines, and digital platforms.
- Awareness and psychoeducation: Through webinars, media content, and public campaigns.
- Inclusion initiatives: Services and adaptations for individuals with disabilities and their families.
- Capacity-building programs: Training for teachers, social workers, and mental health practitioners.
- Creative therapeutic practices: Including art, bodywork, and movement-based approaches.
These efforts demonstrated both responsiveness and creativity—yet most were short-term and lacked integration into a broader mental health infrastructure.
Persistent Gaps and Systemic Challenges
Despite the evident dedication and innovation of civil society actors, several structural and systemic gaps and barriers remain:
- Lack of coordination and shared learning: Most entities operate independently, with limited or no collaboration across different sectors.
- Absence of shared infrastructure: There is no organized platform for exchanging best practices, training materials, methodologies, or shared challenges.
- Fragmented efforts and weak coordination among various entities increase the risk of duplicating efforts, inconsistent service quality, and missed opportunities for integration and joint action.
These gaps result in fragmented service delivery, duplicative efforts, and missed opportunities for systemic change. They also reinforce exclusion for vulnerable groups and limit the reach and impact of civil society work. Notably underserved groups include:
Survivors of violence
Unemployed youth and socially marginalized men
Families, with little attention to the role of fathers and male caregivers
This structural fragmentation limits the potential for coordination and scale, and undermines opportunities to achieve long-term, systemic change in the field. These challenges underscore the urgent need to develop an enabling environment for Arab mental health professionals—one that includes culturally grounded and accredited training as a foundational pillar for building a more sustainable and equitable mental health ecosystem.
Multi-Dimensional Challenges in the Field of Mental Health
Based on a comprehensive analysis of professional, organizational, and cultural data, the challenges facing mental health in Arab society can be grouped into four interrelated categories: structural, organizational, professional, and cultural.
2.1 Structural Challenges
2.2 Organizational Challenges
Fragmentation of services:
Most actors operate independently, with minimal coordination or shared learning mechanisms.
Lack of information infrastructure:
There is no unified map of mental health services, no national database, and no centralized service directory.
Informal referral systems:
Referrals are often based on personal connections rather than institutional protocols.
Discontinuity of services:
Mental health services are frequently interrupted outside of emergency contexts.
Limited sustainability of initiatives:
Only a small number of programs continue beyond the immediate aftermath of crises.
2.3 Professional Challenges
Shortage of qualified, Arabic-speaking professionals: There is a limited pool of mental health practitioners who are both professionally trained and fluent in Arabic.
Lack of ongoing professional training and regular clinical supervision: Opportunities for continuous learning and specialist guidance are scarce.
Absence of formal career pathways in Arabic: There are no structured, Arabic-language professional development tracks for those entering or advancing in the field.
Reliance on inadequate tools: Many professionals depend on poorly translated materials, outdated resources, or tools that are culturally irrelevant or inappropriate.
2.4 Cultural Challenges
1
Stigma and social silence surrounding mental health treatment, particularly among men and young people, hinder help-seeking behaviors and open dialogue.
2
Families often lack the tools and language needed to support their members psychologically, limiting their role in prevention and recovery.
3
There is a significant shortage of Arabic-language awareness and educational materials, including culturally appropriate brochures, guides, diagnostic tools, and public campaigns.
These challenges are not isolated, but interconnected and mutually reinforcing. The structural lack of resources exacerbates weak coordination between stakeholders, resulting in limited opportunities for professional support and ongoing development. At the same time, in some communities, hesitation or stigma around seeking mental health care remains prevalent—deepening the gaps and complicating response efforts.
1. Readiness Indicators and Opportunities for Growth
Despite the existing gaps, several clear points of leverage can be further developed and expanded:
Mental health professionals expressed a strong interest in accredited, culturally grounded training particularly in trauma-informed care and community-based psychosocial support.
Many active organizations have successfully delivered flexible, cross-regional services through non-traditional therapeutic approaches such as group sessions and community-based support.
Many organizations responded quickly to recent crises, demonstrating agility and commitment despite limited resources.
Across the board, stakeholders emphasized the importance of trust and cultural relevance, especially when working with marginalized communities.
2. Strategic Opportunities for Intervention
To move from fragmentation to impact, several actionable opportunities for investment have emerged:
- A collaborative platform designed to connect mental health professionals and organizations within Arab society, with the goal of strengthening cooperation, sharing knowledge, and developing effective, locally grounded responses.
- A hybrid digital and field-based mental health hub for:
– Sharing training resources
– Collecting and organizing data on key actors, available services, and resources
– Enabling inter-organizational knowledge exchange
– Showcasing local innovations in mental health care - Investment in the Arab professional workforce: including:
3. The Role of Philanthropy as a System Shaper
This is a pivotal moment for philanthropy not merely to support short-term programs, but to invest in the long-term infrastructure of mental health in Arab society.
Philanthropic support can:
1
Fund long-term professional development pathways, helping to build a resilient and culturally competent mental health workforce.
2
Strengthen emergency preparedness, including the development of Arabic-language psychological first aid tools and training.
3
Amplify grassroots initiatives through documentation, storytelling, and advocacy ensuring that local voices shape the narrative and influence systemic change.
4
يُعلي أصوات المبادرات الناشطة من خلال التوثيق، السرد، والدعوة
Conclusion
This report has shed light on the evolving reality of mental health in Arab communities, highlighting the dedication of frontline professionals and the critical role of civil society organizations. The field is rich in commitment, local knowledge, and community trust yet strained by structural gaps, limited resources, and a lack of coordination.
Mental health professionals face burnout and isolation, but express a clear hunger for culturally appropriate training and collaborative networks. Meanwhile, civil society organizations are filling the void left by the formal system, developing new care models rooted in language, trust, and lived experience.
Despite the challenges, the potential is significant. There is clear readiness for structured, scalable, and community-driven interventions. Flexible and long-term philanthropic investment can drive meaningful structural transformation.
What is presented here is not only a call for support and coordination but a call for solidarity and partnership. The infrastructure is being laid. The actors are in place. What is needed now is a shared vision and the resources to realize it.