The head of the Knesset’s women’s rights committee on Monday criticized the government’s assistance to Israelis who were sexually assaulted during Hamas’s October 7 massacres, declaring that the various agencies handling the issue appeared to have failed to coordinate their efforts satisfactorily.

“In the end, you’re unable to produce a satisfactory picture of the situation,” Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality chairwoman MK Pnina Tamano-Shata told ministry representatives during a heated meeting.

Hamas engaged in widespread sexual assault during its attack on the south, when thousands of terrorists invaded Israel by land, sea, and air, killing 1,200 people — a majority of them civilians — and taking 240 others hostage into Gaza.

During a special hearing on the treatment and assistance given to the victims, Health Ministry representative Dr. Bella Ben Gershon stated that there were five resilience centers in the Gaza border area and touted the establishment of a “national resilience center in the first week of the war.”

“We provide a response to all the people who suffer from post-traumatic stress,” she said, adding that “when the trauma experts identify sexual abuse, they know how to produce a suitable referral or to treat the person themselves, if they have the necessary training.”

While Ben Gershon argued that there was “no shortage of therapists” and that callers received an initial meeting “with top professionals” within 48 hours of calling, lawmakers responded with skepticism.

Calling the National Resilience Center’s hotline during the meeting, MK Merav Ben Ari was kept waiting for 12 and a half minutes before the person on the other end hung up on her.

“Rape is murder of the soul, and no one is answering your phone. Reach out to people who were harmed. You have to go to them and knock on their door at home. Or go to your hospitals,” she declared.

In addition to the Health Ministry, the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry runs “80 large and small treatment centers” and refers people who call its hotline for treatment, a ministry representative told the committee, adding that “the National Insurance Institute has undertaken the treatment and funding of those who were at the [Supernova music] festival” on October 7, where over 360 revelers were massacred and scores kidnapped.

This prompted pushback from Tamano-Shata, who argued that “you present cooperation with the Health Ministry and the National Insurance Institute, but it appears that you don’t have a master plan for the issue as a whole.”

“We are coming out of the debate with an uncomfortable feeling, mainly because I would expect the government ministries to sit down with all the agencies and for there to be a clear track of treatment and support,” she stated.

“The lack of integration creates a critical atmosphere. In the end, you’re unable to produce a satisfactory picture of the situation. Perhaps a project manager is needed for this issue. Perhaps the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry should take the leadership of the issue. I recommend that there be integration and a master plan in a very clear presentation within a short time.”

Yesh Atid MK Karine Elharrar expressed a similar sentiment, telling national broadcaster Kan following the meeting that “people wait on the line for 12 minutes and then there is no answer either. We need one address and [for people] not be passed from office to office.”