Local Therapists See Spike in Israelis Seeking Support

While Atlanta Jews have been wearingly watching the war launched Feb. 28 against Iran by the United States and Israel, members of the local Israeli community have struggled with the difficulty of leading a double life: being Israeli and American living in Atlanta.

“It’s a challenge to carry both” identities, said Netta Cohen, an Atlanta social worker and therapist who has several Israeli clients who have been using her services since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel resulted in about 1,250 mostly civilians killed and another 250 kidnapped to Gaza.

“We have been in war for two-and-one-half years,” said Cohen, trained in both Israel and the U.S. “It’s just another chapter in the war. No one has contacted me just because of this war.”

Galina Tobin, managing director of clinical services at Jewish Family & Career Services (JF&CS), knows what it feels like to “balance living in this country and all that happens here, with worrying about family” in Israel.

“It’s a unique experience,” she explains. “It’s lonelier to be in the Diaspora during this war. There’s a sense of community there and everyone lifting each other up. Here, you see people who just go through their day without any connection to what’s going on in Israel.”

As both an Israeli and American, Tobin personally understands that dichotomy. She’s a part of several WhatsApp groups with family members in Israel. She, too, notes how the distress of this latest war with Iran builds on a stress that has existed since Oct. 7, 2023.

That’s when JF&CS launched a crisis line, or Israel Support Line, primarily for members of the Israeli community who need a counselor to talk to. Calling 770-677-9399 or emailing IsraelSupport@jfcsatl.org can help expedite the process of being assigned to a therapist who can speak confidentially with a client in Hebrew or English. JF&CS accepts most insurances and offers a self-pay rate as well.

“You don’t have to be Israeli,” Tobin pointed out. “There are many in the Atlanta Jewish community who have strong connections to Israel.” Some members of the Atlanta Jewish community have sought help after they’ve returned home from an Israel under the threat of missiles, or after volunteer missions. “Holding both of those experiences at once can be challenging.”

If there’s one word Cohen uses to describe her Israeli clients after all this time, it is “exhausted.”

“Israelis are still processing Oct. 7,” said Cohen. “Then, there was Iran I (in June 2025) and Iran II (now).” Israelis wonder whether they can fly to Israel or not, as most airlines have canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv as Iranian missiles have targeted – and sometimes hit – Ben Gurion Airport, closing Israeli air space.

Cohen also mentions the loneliness of being Israeli but living in America. “We don’t whine about living outside. We don’t want to complain. We’re not running to shelters [every time a siren warns of an incoming missile]. What Israelis in Israel are going through is much harder. But it carries challenges, too, although smaller. The gap between Israel and us is growing and Israel is changing.”

And, this latest chapter of the ongoing war, as Israelis experience it, is different for another reason. Although the U.S. government certainly defensively supported Israel after the 2023 attack, and both Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump visited Israel and helped orchestrate successive releases of hostages from Gaza, this time the U.S. military is directly involved in the attacks on Iran.

On Feb. 28, in an unusually coordinated assault, both Israeli and U.S. jets launched missiles and bombs on Iran, and the attacks have continued in subsequent weeks. As time has passed since that initial bombardment, there’s been speculation about talks to end the war as well as reports that the two governments diverge in their preferred time frames to do so.

From the beginning, support for the war against Iran among Americans and Israelis has differed. According to the Israeli Democracy Institute (IDI) in Jerusalem, the Israeli war – entitled Operation Roaring Lion — had been overwhelmingly supported by Israelis. According to their initial polling, more than 80 percent of Israelis supported the war 12 days after it was launched.

A couple of weeks later, however, the share of Israelis opposed to the war had risen from four percent in the previous survey to 11.5 percent in the latest. In addition, the IDI polling indicates a clear drop in the intensity of support. “The proportion of those who strongly support the operation dropped from 74 percent at the beginning of March when combat commenced, to 68 percent mid-month, and to just 50 percent in the most recent measurement toward the end of” March.

The war against Iran is seen quite differently among Americans. In the U.S., according to Reuters’ polling, only 37 percent approve of the war – known as Operation Epic Fury – with 59 percent disapproving.

American Jews fall somewhere in between, reported the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI). Its March survey found that 68 percent of “connected” American Jews support the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, significantly higher than the general U.S. public, with support divided along ideological lines.

The JPPI survey found that many U.S. respondents hold two views, both that Iran’s threat must be addressed, but concern what the fallout in America will be. A majority of connected American Jews polled were concerned that the war could damage Israel’s image in the U.S. as well as fuel antisemitism. There’s also a strong fear of the rising antisemitism that has been experienced in Europe and in the U.S.

According to local therapists who work with Israelis, the fears and opposing emotions come from all sides. They, too, are worried about antisemitism or anti-Israel attacks. But the “common denominator,” said Israeli marriage and family therapist Shirley Shani Ben Zvi, is concern about their families in Israel, even if their families have easy access to bomb shelters – which not all Israelis have.

Beyond the fear is anger, particularly among those “who believe the war was not the brightest idea.”

There’s some confusion as well, noted Ben Zvi. “People say to themselves, ‘I’m glad I left Israel before it got so bad there, but on the other hand I want to go back because I can’t trust my neighbors here.’”

Ben Zvi pointed out that many people often “don’t differentiate between Israel and the Israeli government. There’s a very dangerous blurring on all sides. Many Americans have become anti-Israel. It’s much easier to live in black and white” without seeing the complexities involved, especially in the Middle East. “Israelis grew up knowing how complex” the issues are.

Partly due to language and cultural differences, many local Israelis socialize primarily with other Israelis. “The two communities have different circles,” explains Cohen. Israelis often don’t affiliate with a synagogue, either, so organizations like JF&CS have a bigger challenge connecting to Israelis.

“We have proactively reached out to the Israeli community,” said Anat Granath, director of clinical programs and outreach at JF&CS, said. “Many Israelis don’t know about JF&CS. We have a very active WhatsApp group, sending out messages.” She said that there had been several meetings in the community in the early weeks of the war.

Tobin added that JF&CS has worked with the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast as well as community groups, Israeli scouts, and schools to find Israelis who might need its services. “We also started building relationships in Alpharetta where there are a lot of Israelis. We are going to where the clients are.”

The fact that JF&CS has employees connected to Israel through children studying there or who are serving in the Israeli Defense Forces helps, said Tobin. “We can hold our own stress and work with clients at the same time.”

In addition to psychological support from JF&CS, there are just a handful of Israeli therapists in Atlanta. Cohen said she’s one of a few Israelis who practice here. Even if her caseload is full, however, if someone contacts her “with a Hebrew name, I make priority and I will offer a discount. I make it a priority to help Israelis.”

Ben Zvi said one reason she became a therapist was because she wanted to see how people behave. Now she says, “These are crazy times,” adding humorously, “That’s not a clinical term.”