Beyond the Frontline: How Society Can Endure a Prolonged War. The Experience of Israel and Ukraine – Opinion

Israel marks the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 — living in the shadow of a conflict that has long ceased to be solely military. This reality is well known to Ukraine, for which war has become not an episode, but a part of everyday life. Two nations — two fronts, but one experience: how to maintain resilience when fear, fatigue, and pain become part of life.

When war becomes a way of existence

According to the latest data, more than half of Israeli families have experienced physical or psychological consequences of the war. The fighting exhausts not only the army — it destroys social ties, undermines trust, and creates the effect of “secondary trauma.”

An expert on national resilience and international partnership, head of the International Committee Forum Dvorah Ilona Drozdova notes (ukr.): the battlefield has long gone beyond the front. It penetrates every sphere of civilian life — from medicine to education, from mental health to public relations.

Justice and restoration of dignity

One of the most terrible aspects of the war was the sexual violence committed on October 7 and in the following months. This is not an accident, but a deliberate tactic of terror aimed at destabilizing society. Israeli organizations, including the Dinah Project initiative, have gathered evidence, achieving the inclusion of Hamas in the list of sexual violence offenders in conflicts published by the UN Secretary-General.

Justice in this context is not only the punishment of the guilty. It is the return of a sense of dignity, trust, and the refusal to normalize violence as part of reality.

Ukraine has gone through similar trials. Russian troops systematically used sexual violence as a tool of intimidation. By June 2025, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office recorded more than 360 such cases, but the real scale is much wider. In response, the country adopted historic legislation on reparations for victims, including medical and psychological assistance, legal support, and recognition of children born as a result of violence as victims.

Israel and Ukraine prove: the fight against such crimes requires not only words but also international mechanisms of justice.

Medicine as the second front

During Operation “Iron Swords,” Israel’s healthcare system became the second front.
On October 7, the country faced the largest number of casualties in its history — more than 1,100 dead, 255 kidnapped, over 1,600 injured. Hospitals were overcrowded, and medical staff worked under fire, saving lives and dealing with psychological trauma.

This crisis revealed both strengths and vulnerabilities. Trauma centers worked efficiently, but the imbalance between regions exposed inequality in access to care.

In response, Israel launched a large-scale program Makom LaNefesh (“Place for the Soul”) — about 180 million dollars a year for the development of mental health and resilience centers.
Psychologists call this a historic step: for the first time, mental health is recognized as a strategic direction of national security.

In Ukraine, according to WHO, 68% of citizens report deteriorating health, half show signs of psychological trauma. More than 2,250 attacks on hospitals, including a children’s clinic in Odessa, have destroyed the usual medical system. But Ukrainian adaptation is impressive: mobile clinics, digital services, and international aid networks have become a new form of defense.

Health is not just medicine. It is the ability of society to withstand when the familiar world collapses.

Civil resilience: the power of communities

When institutions fail to respond, local networks come to the forefront — communities, volunteer centers, digital communities.
In Israel, parent chats in WhatsApp have turned into rapid response headquarters, coordinating evacuations and aid delivery. National centers like IACC mobilized thousands of volunteers, filling gaps where the system faltered.

In Ukraine, volunteers have become the foundation of civil defense. They organize humanitarian convoys, deliver medicines, inform where there is no light, water, or communication.
And in this — a new kind of national strength. Communication and trust have become not an auxiliary element, but an essential part of security.

Resistance as a way of life

Modern wars are wars of attrition. And the winner is the one who can not only fight but also live. Israel and Ukraine show that resilience is not a slogan, but a survival strategy.

For Israel — it is the support of hostages, families of the deceased, psychological rehabilitation, and collective memory.
For Ukraine — the restoration of regions, assistance to displaced persons, and faith in return.

Victory is no longer measured by kilometers of liberated land. It is measured by how society retains its humanity — despite the war.

The main lesson

Resistance is not only a weapon. It is the ability not to lose oneself when the familiar collapses.
Israel and Ukraine live in a mirror reflection of each other: both countries learn not just to survive, but to create a system of life in which even pain becomes fuel for resilience.

And if resilience used to be a fashionable word, now it is the only way to endure.