Health Ministry firmly denies claim that 50 Supernova survivors took their own lives

The Health Ministry firmly denies a claim made by a survivor of the Supernova massacre during a Knesset hearing that around 50 fellow survivors have taken their own lives since October 7.

In a statement, the ministry says that the widely reported “figures of the number of suicides and the number of those institutionalized among survivors of the Supernova festival are not known to the Health Ministry and the medical system and are not correct.”

Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, head of mental health services in the Health Ministry, says in a statement that the “rumors” of such a phenomenon are “not correct, and this was also made clear during and at the end of the [Knesset] hearing.” He says the ministry checked with groups who have been treating Supernova survivors, as well as with the Tribe of Nova Foundation set up following the massacre, and found no basis for the claim.

The claim was made during a Knesset State Control meeting by a survivor of the festival, where more than 350 partygoers were murdered by Hamas.

At a hearing in November, a health official said around 10 survivors had been involuntarily committed to psychiatric hospitals after their ordeals.