Ministry of Education (Israel)

The Jewish-Arab cross-cultural encounter in therapy poses unique challenges to the therapeutic relationship, shaped by the ongoing cultural-political conflict in Israel.1 This encounter reflects the complex historical and current dynamics between the two cultures. This study explored the experiences of 22 creative arts therapists working with clients from the opposite cultural sector, focusing on their personal experiences and understanding of art's roles in cross-cultural therapy. Participants created drawings expressing their experiences, followed by semi-structured interviews. The drawings were analyzed phenomenologically, and the interviews underwent reflexive thematic analysis. Data analysis revealed three main themes: 1) "Creating a connection despite the border" - therapists' emotional experiences in cross-cultural therapy and art as a space for meeting the other; 2) Ethnocultural transference and countertransference, sometimes reflecting the political conflict; and 3) Growth of cultural competency and humility during therapy. The findings are discussed through a relational psychoanalytic lens, the concept of the racist self, and cultural competency. Limitations and future research are also addressed.

Art therapy increasingly has been adopted by school-based mental health services to support children and adolescents with emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric disorders. Despite its growing use, research examining the sociocultural, institutional, and professional factors affecting its implementation in minority educational settings remains limited. This qualitative study investigates visual art therapists’ experiences implementing school-based art therapy for students with psychiatric disorders in the Arab education system in Israel. Twenty-four visual art therapists participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using consensual qualitative research (CQR). The analysis identified five domains: (1) negotiation of mental health stigma in Arab school contexts, (2) systemic unpreparedness for school-based mental health care, (3) therapists functioning as compensatory systems within institutional gaps, (4) relational and culturally responsive therapeutic adaptation, and (5) reimagining school-based mental health services. Overall, the findings indicate that the implementation of school-based art therapy is shaped by the interplay of sociocultural stigma, therapist preparedness, institutional readiness, culturally responsive practice, family engagement, and policy support. The study introduces a sociocultural-systemic framework to guide future research, professional training, and the development of culturally responsive school-based mental health services in minority educational settings.

The research investigated the perceptions of kindergarten teachers in Arab Palestinian society concerning the contribution of the latest Israeli government education reform entitled the "New Horizons" reform to provide additional material enabling assessment of the reform's efficacy and attainment of its goals in Arab Palestinian kindergartens. Previous studies have shown inconsistent results concerning the benefits of the reform and indicated that educators had both positive and negative views concerning its different elements. A qualitative research study gathered data from semi-structured interviews with 16 Arab Palestinian kindergarten teachers. The findings indicated that the teachers were dissatisfied with the reform, indicating different negative aspects of the reform: burdensome work, intensive work, and lack of autonomy for the teachers, unsuitability of the programs for the kindergarten's workday and its structure. Although teachers indicated that the reform had a positive influence on the children's achievements and their progress, it also generated pressure on the teachers. The research findings clarify the way in which the reform is seen by these Arab Palestinian kindergarten teachers and points to the need for further studies, which will investigate kindergarten teachers' work in the local and global context.

Over 40% of known amphibian species are threatened, with urbanization as one of the major threats to their continued survival. Conservation efforts to sustain viable amphibian populations within urban spaces may play a meaningful part in protecting amphibian species. To explore the factors that influence the viability of urban amphibian population in Mediterranean environments, we used a capture-recapture analysis applied to a large dataset collected in a multi-year citizen science program, focused on two Salamandra infraimmaculata populations within Haifa, and to a second dataset that we collected for two Bufotes variabilis populations within Jerusalem and at a nature reserve near it. Individuals of both species have individually-unique patterns of dorsal spots, which allowed for noninvasive recapture identification. Using the salamander dataset, we developed a length-based age-estimation method and discovered a prolonged period of increased vulnerability throughout their first years of life, even after reaching sexual maturity, a finding with important implications for management of such populations. Additionally, the shared conclusions from the two case studies indicate that the creation of fish-containing artificial water bodies in Mediterranean habitats can have highly detrimental impacts on amphibian populations. The study uncovered population-specific information, such as unknown breeding sites and population size estimates, of importance for their conservation, and demonstrates the utility of citizen science in study and conservation of urban ecology.

Children are vulnerable to the serious effects of COVID-19 due to the restrictions advanced by governments such as lockdowns, home confinement, and school closing and it is conceivable that the coronavirus might be specifically challenging for those children who are diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attentional Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Thus, the current study aims to test the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on children with and without ADHD in terms of anxiety, sleep, and executive functions. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 120 Arab Israeli parents of children with and without ADHD. Additional information about sixty non-confined ADHD children was gathered regarding their executive functions before the coronavirus outbreak. The results show that more than 60% of the children with ADHD displayed high levels of anxiety. Compared to children without ADHD, higher rates of sleep-related and executive function difficulties appeared in the ADHD group. In addition, the confined ADHD group showed greater difficulties in executive functions than the non-confined ADHD group. The results extend the literature about the negative effects of the coronavirus outbreak on children, particularly those who are diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders, and highlight the necessity of immediate cognitive and psychological interventions and protective programs for children.