WEST BANK (Dispatches) – A new report has revealed that 44% of Zionist youth in occupied territories deal with constant anxiety and depression, while 20% showed tendencies to take their own lives.
The report, published by Hebrew-language media, covers the year 2022 and was conducted by ELEM, a nonprofit watchdog monitoring at-risk youth.
“They shared feelings of despair, exhaustion, disconnection, and lack of motivation when at home, school, parks, and social media,” the report said, adding that some 19% reported receiving emotional therapy from psychologists, psychiatrists, and other therapists.
“The hardships that youth faced and deepened during the COVID pandemic haven’t lessened,” stated the report by ELEM, which was presented to president Isaac Herzog.
According to the report, 18% of the youth also reported experiencing sexual abuse, while 20% said they experienced domestic violence, some of which had been going on for years.
The report further said that violence among the youths has been intensifying in recent years. It noted that 26% of the youth reported experiencing violence outside their homes, including severe bullying.
The sharp increase in tendencies among Zionist settlers to commit suicide has raised the alarm among authorities and their Western supporters.
Tali Erez, ELEM’s CEO, said, “We need to wake up. Our children, especially those at risk who lack a family, support system, or anyone to look after them, are dealing with the consequences of increasingly dangerous phenomena.”
Earlier, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that suicide among teenagers and youth aged between 15-24 years old has increased by 75%.
The number of suicides among this age group has significantly increased between 2016 and 2020, it added.