Stopping Suicide Before It’s Too Late: IMFoC and SAHAR Partner to Transform Digital Crisis Intervention

In an era where emotional distress and psychological crises increasingly unfold in digital spaces, the need for immediate, professional, and accessible mental health support has never been more critical. The Israel Magen Fund of Canada (IMFoC) is proud to announce a strategic partnership with SAHAR Online Mental Support to ensure that no individual in Israel—whether youth or adult—must face their darkest hour alone. This collaboration marks a significant step in strengthening Israel’s national resilience by funding, monitoring, and evaluating SAHAR’s life-saving digital services, providing a beacon of hope for those navigating the complexities of trauma, loneliness, and suicidal ideation.

For the Canadian Jewish community, this partnership offers a direct and meaningful way to support the emotional well-being of future generations in Israel. Through the Israel Rehabilitation & Resilience Fund (IRRF), the Israel Magen Fund of Canada (IMFoC) is helping sustain and scale SAHAR’s 24/7 operations, ensuring that immediate compassion, crisis support, and professional guidance are always just a click away.

A Legacy Born from Tragedy: The Story of Eran Aderet

The foundation of SAHAR is rooted in a profound narrative of loss and transformation. More than 25 years ago, Eran Aderet, a young Israeli soldier struggling with depression, took his own life. It was only after his death that his family discovered he had spent his final days searching for suicidal methods on online forums—spaces that, at the time, lacked any countervailing force of support or intervention.

Following this tragedy, Eran’s father, Dr. Avshalom Aderet, established SAHAR to ensure the internet would never again be a void for those in pain. Today, SAHAR serves as Israel’s "silent lifeline," providing a text-based alternative to traditional helplines, specifically tailored to the communicative preferences of digital natives.

Immediate Support in a 24/7 Reality

The events of October 7th and the subsequent regional conflict have placed an unprecedented psychological burden on Israeli society. In response, SAHAR rapidly expanded its operations from an 11-hour-a-day service to a comprehensive 24/7 model. This transition ensures that support is available in Hebrew and Arabic at any hour, acknowledging that mental health crises do not follow a schedule.

Reactive and Accessible Support

SAHAR’s reactive support is delivered via a live chat window on its website and WhatsApp. This text-only interface is vital for reaching youth and young adults, many of whom find traditional phone calls intrusive or stigmatizing. For a teenager facing social anxiety or a soldier struggling with "silent" trauma, the anonymity of a chat window provides a safe harbour to express feelings they might not share with family or friends.

Proactive Social Media Intervention

One of the most innovative components of SAHAR’s work is the Outreach Patrol Unit (the "Sayeret"). Rather than waiting for individuals to seek help, this proactive unit actively scans social media platforms, forums, and Q&A sites like Stips to identify users expressing acute distress or suicidal ideation.

When a volunteer identifies a high-risk post, they don't simply offer a link; they engage using "reflective listening," validating the user's emotions before inviting them to a safe, anonymous chat. In 2025 alone, the Outreach Patrol has reached over 10,000 online posts, creating a ripple effect in which each intervention is seen by an average of 10 others, amplifying the message of hope.

AI and Predictive Intelligence

Through this partnership, IMFoC supports SAHAR's integration of cutting-edge technology to enhance crisis detection. SAHAR collaborates with leading academic institutions, including Ben-Gurion University and the University of Haifa, to develop machine learning models that assess suicide risk in real time.

The SR-BERT Model and SRF Lexicon

The SR-BERT (Suicide Risk-BERT) model is a sophisticated tool that analyzes the temporal dynamics of a live chat session to detect shifts in risk. This is supported by the Suicide Risk Factors (SRF) lexicon, which provides linguistic representations for key predictors like hopelessness and thwarted belongingness. Research indicates that "hopelessness" is the strongest predictor of suicide risk among callers, and having the ability to identify these signals early in a conversation allows SAHAR volunteers to prioritize and escalate interventions with surgical precision.

The Impact in Action

The true value of SAHAR’s work is found in the individual narratives of survival. These real-world cases illustrate how digital intervention translates into physical safety.

• Immediate Medical Intervention: In one instance, a user contacted SAHAR after ingesting a lethal dose of pills. Disoriented and unable to identify their location, the user was kept in communication by a SAHAR volunteer while a Duty Supervisor coordinated with the Israel Police to trace the signal. The user later contacted the organization from the hospital, stating, "They saved me after I took pills... I don't know how they found me. Please tell the volunteer that she saved me."
  

• Combatting Digital Shaming: A teenage girl who had been the victim of a viral shaming video had not left her house for weeks and was experiencing severe suicidal thoughts. Identified by the Outreach Patrol on a social media forum, the intervention provided her with a space to process the trauma and facilitated her connection to long-term professional care, interrupting a potentially lethal trajectory.
  

• The Power of Being Heard: Many users report that simply being understood in a text-based environment provided the hope they needed to keep breathing. As one user shared, "You’ve really helped me out, given me faith, hope, and a sense of companionship... I'm alive and breathing and that's what matters."

Clinical Oversight and Professional Rigour

The safety of SAHAR’s platform is guaranteed by a robust framework of professional oversight. Every shift is supported by a "Duty Supervisor," a trained mental health professional, such as a social worker or psychologist, who manages risk assessments and emergency escalations.

SAHAR’s 450 volunteers undergo a rigorous four-month training program encompassing theoretical study and supervised practicums. This ensures that every interaction is grounded in evidence-based practices like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

Why Your Support Matters

The Israel Magen Fund of Canada is committed to identifying and supporting projects in Israel that require urgent humanitarian and mental health care. By partnering with SAHAR, IMFoC is providing more than just funding; we are ensuring the sustainability of a digital infrastructure that functions as a primary entry point for mental health care in Israel.

However, SAHAR remains financially vulnerable. While it receives limited support from the Israeli Ministry of Health, the vast majority of its operations are funded by philanthropy. IMFoC is reaching out to the Canadian Jewish community to help bridge this gap. Your contributions directly fund:

1. 24/7 Operational Scaling: Keeping the chat lines open every second of every day.

2. Advanced AI Integration: Refining predictive tools to catch "silent" cries for help.

3. The Outreach Patrol: Expanding proactive monitoring to more social platforms where youth are at risk.

4. Volunteer Training: Equipping more community members with the skills to save lives.

The resilience of the State of Israel depends not only on physical security but on the emotional well-being of its people. By supporting the IMFoC and SAHAR collaboration, you are helping to safeguard that well-being. Together, we can ensure that when someone reaches out in their darkest hour—whether they are a soldier, a student, or a parent—there is someone on the other side of the screen ready to listen, ready to care, and ready to save their life.

Join us in making a world of difference. Your voice and your support matter. Help us ensure that in Israel, no person ever has to face an emotional crisis alone.

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