HMN 2026: How War undermines human rights and agency of Israeli adolescents,

A team of researchers from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has published a study in Frontiers in Psychology examining the impact of the ongoing war on Israeli adolescents. The research, conducted by Yonat Rum of the Seymour Fox School of Education, Erez Milsthen of the Department of Psychology, and Heba F. Zedan and Tali Gal of the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, moves beyond traditional focus on mental health assessments to evaluate the impact of war on the fulfillment of fundamental human rights of children.

The study warns that during a prolonged war, while basic physical needs are largely met, the war fundamentally impacts children in areas such as sense of safety, freedom of speech, equality, access to safe information, and participation. “Rights are not luxury items to be set aside during an emergency; they are the very tools children need to navigate trauma,” noted Tali Gal, Chair of Child and Youth Rights, who initiated the study.

Beyond physical safety

The study indicates that while physical protection, such as access to shelters and basic safety, is generally maintained, adolescents’ internal sense of safety has been significantly impacted. Approximately 20% of participants reported exposure to violence, with verbal harassment in schools being the most common form.

Qualitative data revealed a pervasive “fear of the other” among respondents. Hebrew-speaking adolescents frequently reported avoiding Arab locations and people due to security concerns, while Arabic-speaking participants described fear of police violence and arrest as a primary deterrent to expressing their views.

Disruption of educational continuity

The research highlights that the prolonged conflict has challenged educational stability, particularly for Hebrew-speaking students who experienced significant staff turnover. This might be explained by the fact that teachers were called for military reserve duty, as Arab schools demonstrated more stability during this period.

Resiliency and the role of the family

The study emphasizes that parents remain the most central and trusted source of information for adolescents during the conflict. While exposure to information on social media often caused distress, conversations with parents were generally viewed as a safe way to process the news.

Still, parents do not always accurately identify their children’s experiences, and times of stress might amplify these gaps. For example, the findings of this study indicate that parents believe their children feel free to speak and express their feelings and opinions more than adolescents report feelings. When asked what they fear when expressing their feelings and opinions, adolescents reported fears of shaming, peer boycotts, and harm to social relationships.

Arabic-speaking youths reported feeling significantly less free to express their opinions than their Hebrew-speaking peers. Despite these barriers, some adolescents expressed a clear desire for their voices to be heard and for schools to provide more opportunities for discussing the situation.

Interestingly, the researchers noted an increase in adolescents’ well-being scores toward the end of 2025 compared to earlier stages of the war. “This might imply adolescents’ resilience, but we must be careful not to mistake adaptation for healing,” warned Yonat Rum. “Youth might be normalizing a reality that is fundamentally abnormal, which makes the protection of their rights even more urgent.”

Recommendations for policy

The researchers recommend strengthening school-based violence prevention, ensuring mental health support is integrated into the education system, and creating safe, inclusive environments for young people from all backgrounds to exercise their right to participation. They also emphasize that while much research relies on adults’ reports about children, it is essential to directly ask children and adolescents about their experiences, as some gaps may emerge between how adults perceive them and how they actually feel.

“Our goal is to move from a discourse of ‘needs’ only to one that includes ‘rights’ as well,” added Tali Gal. “We aren’t just asking what these children need to survive; we are documenting what they are entitled to as active members of society who deserve to be heard and protected.”

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