Angela Diffley recently hosted Dr. Danny Brom, the Founding Director of METIV, the Israel Psychotrauma Center located in Jerusalem, to discuss the psychological aftermath of recent events. According to Dr. Brom, Israelis and Jewish communities globally are currently mourning the greatest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust, an event that has fundamentally shattered their collective sense of security.
Despite the depth of the grief, Dr. Brom highlighted the striking resilience present within the population. He emphasized the critical question facing individuals, communities, and society at large: how to reconstruct a sense of safety without allowing fear to dominate the future.
However, Dr. Brom cautioned that the conflict remains active. He noted a disconnect between the ongoing war and political leaders who continue to speak of achieving “the ultimate victory,” a goal whose definition remains unclear to many.
Dismissing the gap between soldiers fighting and leaders chasing vague ‘ultimate victory’ is dangerous. We need clarity, not empty rhetoric.
The psychological toll is staggering. How does a society rebuild trust after such a profound betrayal of safety?