Dr. Ofer Merin, director general of Shaare Zedek Hospital, spoke at the event via video. He was expected to be in Vancouver in person but stayed in Jerusalem due to intelligence that Iran might strike Israel during the time he was scheduled to be away. (Adele Lewin Photography)
A top Mossad psychologist who has interviewed hostages released from captivity in Gaza explained to a Vancouver audience this month the traits that allow some people to survive and overcome unimaginable conditions.
Dr. Glenn Cohen, who made aliyah in 1982 after growing up in New York, served seven years in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot, then 25 years in the Mossad. His reserve duty has been in the hostage negotiation unit. He spoke at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Nov. 10 as part of a national tour titled Voices of Resilience. The Vancouver event marked the inauguration of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation Western region. The hospital’s director general, Dr. Ofer Merin, spoke via video from Jerusalem.
The first hostages to be released after Oct. 7 were vital to intelligence-gathering for Israel’s military, but Cohen quickly realized that the psychological well-being of the former hostages presented challenges to obtaining the information that could help locate and free others.
“We have two goals here,” said Cohen. “One is to get lifesaving, critical intelligence about the other hostages. But, at the same time, these people came out of captivity. We have to give them a soft landing and tender loving care.”
Cohen wrote a protocol to receive civilians from situations like these.
When more than 100 hostages were released through an agreement last November, Cohen and his team of 30 psychologists met each one and debriefed them.
“The first thing we asked them was, who did you see?” Cohen said. “What condition physically, mentally? And, with this information, we brought a sign of life for some people who had no idea if their loved one was alive or not.”
Some news was good, while other reports confirmed the worst fears of some families.
Cohen has trained soldiers for the potential of being held hostage and he was surprised that, without this sort of training, human instinct told some of the hostages how to respond.
A core trait among those who successfully survive such scenarios, he said, is hopeful certainty that they will be released. Too much optimism, though, can lead to crushing depression when hopes are not met. Those who are certain of imminent release or rescue may succumb to heartbreak and even give up on life as days and weeks tick by, he said.
It is necessary, Cohen said, to balance hope with realistic expectations.
A 16-year-old boy who was among the released hostages remembered the story of Gilad Shalit. The boy told himself: “How long was he in captivity? Five years. I’m in for five years. A day less is a bonus.”
“A 16-year-old kid,” said Cohen. “Wow. What type of resilience is that? He didn’t go through any POW training. He was just a 16-year-old Israeli boy and he’s got that in his DNA.”
Maintaining any sense of control or normalcy is a small victory. Some hostages counted the days and weeks by listening to the muezzin, the Muslim call to prayer, which is different on Fridays. A seven-year-old boy was given three dates to eat each day, and he kept the seeds to measure how many days he had been in captivity. Others made fun of their captors, secretly referring to them by disparaging names.
Generally speaking, Cohen explained, it is psychologically better for a hostage to be held with other captives, even if underground without natural light, than to be held above ground alone.
Also advantageous, Cohen said, is recognizing the captors as human beings.
“There is another person on the other side,” he said. “Even though we call Hamas animals or … monsters or whatever, the point is, they are human beings who can be influenced. When you realize that, that this is an interpersonal situation, that gives you power.”
Cohen shared one story of hostages who told their captors, “Put your gun down, you’re scaring the children,” and they did.
In another instance, a woman with a cardiac condition asked to get some exercise by walking down the tunnel she was held in. She came across two other hostages and asked why they couldn’t be brought together. They were.
“A lot of the hostages actually managed to bond with their captors and because of that bond they survived better,” said Cohen.
News of such incidents has led to unfortunate events, he said.
“I heard not too long ago that hostages were cursed on the streets of Israel because they talked about their relationship with the hostages and didn’t call them animals,” Cohen said. “I feel like I have a mission now to educate people to realize that if people are speaking like that, as a hostage, it means it’s a healthy survival mechanism and God forbid we be critical of any of them.”
Merin, the director general of Shaare Zedek Hospital, was expected to be present in Vancouver but remained in Jerusalem due to intelligence that Iran might strike Israel during the time he was scheduled to be away. Merin also serves as head of the medical intelligence committee involved with the current hostage situation in Gaza.
“The day after the war started, we opened a designated emergency room just to treat the many, many hundreds of patients who came in the first week in need of mental health support,” he said, estimating that tens of thousands of Israelis will be diagnosed with some form of post-traumatic stress disorder in the coming months.
Amid the extreme physical and mental health demands, the hospital has also faced human resources challenges, with hundreds of staff members called up for duty and 15 experiencing the deaths of immediate family members during the war. The anxiety of having family on the frontlines adds to the stress for everyone, said Merin. The multicultural nature of the staff, which roughly mirrors the demographic makeup of Jerusalem, is also a factor.
“How do we preserve the cohesion between these people?” he asked. “This is a major daily challenge in times of normal emotions among staff people, how to keep this amazing cohesion of people who are working for years, for decades, shoulder to shoulder together. How to keep it during times of war is a major challenge.”
Hinda Silber, national president, and Rafi Yablonsky, national executive director, of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation, traveled from Toronto for the event, which was co-chaired by Dr. Marla Gordon and Dr. Arthur Dodek. The evening was presented by Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation Western region, in partnership with Congregation Schara Tzedeck. The Jewish Medical Association of BC was the educational sponsor, with King David High School and Hillel BC participating in the program. Schara Tzedeck’s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt welcomed the audience.
“Since Oct. 7, the mental health landscape in Israel has been profoundly affected,” said Ilan Pilo, Western region director of the organization. “The nation is navigating an unprecedented surge in psychological distress as individuals and communities cope with the aftermath of trauma and uncertainty.”
Proceeds from the evening will support a new mental health facility.
