Last Updated on October 20, 2021

ELI – The Israel Association for Child Protection

The Israel Association for Child Protection (ELI) is recognized by the Government of Israel and other human service agencies as the only organization in Israel that deals specifically and exclusively with all of the various aspects of child abuse.

ELI’s staff of 90 professionals and specially trained volunteers approaches this painful problem in a unique and innovative way by offering single-point-of-entry comprehensive service. Families receive therapy, legal counseling, shelter and whatever other support services are needed without having to go from agency to agency.

ELI compliments other welfare agencies in Israel by providing this totally coordinated variety of services not only to children who have been abused or neglected, but also to adult victims of abuse in their childhood and to abusive parents who need help to overcome their problem. Individual, group and family therapy sessions are offered throughout Israel.

• Emergency Numbers in Israel
• Social Services
• Step-by-step guide to calling the emergency services with Hebrew, English and transliterations

ELI offers:

• The Eli Hotline – a toll-free number throughout Israel 

Tel: 1-800-223-966

• Clinical Department – providing treatment to the abused victims and their families as well.

• Shelter – offering immediate protection to abused children who must be removed from home as their homes are no longer safe for them.

ELI’s emergency shelter accommodates 16 children daily. The shelter serves central Israel and often houses children for several months at a time. Children are protected, diagnosed, treated, fed, clothed and schooled so that when they do return home and go back to school, they are in step with their peers.

An extension of ELI’s emergency shelter, the Safe House is a transitional facility where abusive or neglectful parents have the opportunity to receive therapy, parental training and guidance, and real time parental supervision. These parents, many of whom are single mothers, visit the Safe House 3-4 times weekly, and for 3-4 hours each visit generally for a period of three months. In some cases, participating in the Safe House Program is the only way parents will be able to welcome their children back home.

• Mobile Therapy – ELI is the only organization in the world that utilizes a Mobile Therapy Unit to reach those children, victims of abuse, who cannot afford the cost of traveling to ELI’s offices or who live too remotely to visit ELI’s offices in Tel-Aviv, or any of its satellite therapists who are located in other major population centers in Israel.

• Educational Programs – identifying, reporting and preventing child abuse in schools throughout Israel also via musicals and dramatic programs that are performed in schools. These programs are designed to educate various age groups to understand what abuse is, and their right to be free of abuse, however the message is delivered in an entertaining format

• Internet Safety – the issue of on line sexual predators is a relatively new one. The program consists of creating a forum for children and their parents to create parameters and rules for internet use, peer coaching in schools where older students teach younger students what to look out for on line, and training for parents who may not be as savvy as their children when it comes to the internet.

• Training Division – one of ELI’s greatest contributions to Israeli Society is when they train municipal social workers, and other clinicians throughout Israel as to how to address abuse.

• Legal Department – providing legal aid and representation to victims of abuse.

• Lobbying – working with the government to influence legislation.

• Public Awareness – interfacing with the media to increase awareness of the issue of child abuse in Israel.

Last year, ELI had nearly 4,000 children in therapy, and thousands more of their siblings, parents, and extended family members.  Stress, frequent military duty, fear of random terrorism, unemployment and the difficulties associated with immigration all contribute to the fact that children are abused in Israel.

ELI utilizes individual, family, and group therapies for the victim, perpetrator, spouse (who failed to protect the child), siblings (who witnessed the abuse), and grandparents (often the root source of abusive behavior). Therapy can stop current abuse, alter parental behavior, and help children overcome the devastation resulting from abuse that can affect their ability to form relationships of love and trust throughout their lives. This problem frequently involves a crisis situation in which immediate intervention is necessary. All other human social services in Israel look to ELI as the organization with the overall responsibility to provide children with the protection and treatment needed in these difficult situations.

The organization’s hotline is toll free from anywhere in Israel (Tel: 1-800-223-966). The emergency shelter, located in Tel Aviv, can accommodate up to fifteen children from anywhere in the country. ELI’s experience with a very diverse population and its remarkable accomplishments over the past two decades have served as a worldwide model of success in combating this difficult and painful problem.

For more information, details and assistance, volunteer information and donations, please visit the English website