Israel’s Hostage
Families
Forever.
255 – Support for the Hostages and their Families provides ongoing, holistic support for those taken hostage by Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza on and before October 7.
255 accompanies these extended families through rehabilitation toward renewed,
meaningful integration into Israeli society.
We’re not
going anywhere
We’re not going anywhere
Because neither is their experience as family members of hostages held in Gaza.
We’re following
their lead
We’re following their lead
The families have coped with this reality since and before October 7. They know best what they need, which is what we’re here to provide.
We’re centering
the family
We’re centering the family
The whole family tree was affected, so the whole family tree receives our accompaniment and support.
Our
Mission
Family support plan >>
Accompanied by a social worker, each family develops a rehabilitation and integration plan spanning four intertwined pillars: psychological, financial, professional, and social.
Community building >>
The hostage families share a unique experience that only they understand. With this in mind, 225 cultivates a community that supports ongoing connection and communication through regular retreats, regional meetings, workshops, and support groups.
Shaping public discourse >>
The hostages and their families have much to tell and many curious listeners about October 7 and their experience in Gaza. Telling these stories in their own words can return agency to those who had it stripped away – and establish ownership of their own narrative.
Policy and advocacy >>
Supporting the hostages and their families should not be a political matter. 255 works to promote legislation and policy initiatives that meet their unprecedented experiences to ensure these families get the support they need and that their rights are protected.
Our team
Our professionals
Mor Peretz
CEO
Mor was a founder of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum and has accompanied the families ever since October 7, 2023. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the Director General of the Ministry of Welfare, and oversaw strategy and community development for Branco Weiss and the Jerusalem Municipality. As CEO and founder of 255, she oversees all day-to-day management of the organization, while ensuring its sustainable growth to be able to meet the diverse and evolving needs of the hostages and their families. Mor holds an MA in organizational consulting.
Alia Kadish
Individuals and Families Support Director
Alia specialized in welfare for high-risk families, specifically in circumstances of crisis and poverty over the last thirteen years. In addition to providing direct therapy, she also holds significant experience in managing and developing welfare programming to ensure holistic support is provided to clients. Most recently, she managed programming for families coping with neglect through the Ministry of Welfare national headquarters’ “Noshmim” program. Alia holds a BA in social work from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in social work from Bar Ilan University.
Yahel Shemesh
Director of Community Programs
Yahel is a social worker (B.A., M.S.W.) and Director of Communities at 255, with over 15 years of experience in community and humanitarian work in Israel and globally. She specializes in developing community-based and psychosocial responses to crisis and emergency, with expertise in trauma care, program development, and team leadership.
Hodaya Nissim
Operations Coordinator
Hodaya holds a BA in special and informal education. After October 7, she joined the Hostage and Missing Families Forum where she established and managed the operations team, ensuring rapid response to the hostage families’ needs at the organization’s headquarters. Previously she was a facilitator in gap year leadership programming for youth from underserved Israeli communities before drafting into the Israeli army.
Dr Molly Bernstein
Director of Development
Dr Molly Bernstein is the director of development at 255. Before joining the organization, she was the opinion editor at Haaretz English, and worked for almost a decade in humanitarian aid, leading missions around the globe in refugee crises and natural disasters. Molly holds a BA from the University of Maryland in Arabic and Government, and an MA and PhD from Tel Aviv University in Middle East History. In addition to her work at 255, she is a researcher at Tel Aviv University and at ifk Vienna.
Our board
Tal Ohana
Tal, former Mayor of Yeruham, is currently engaged in local economic development, executive training, and mentoring leaders before and throughout their political tenure. Previously, Tal was a member of the Tenders and Property Tax committees and a director of the Yeruham Economic Development Corporation. In addition, she served as the Deputy and Acting Head of the Yeruham Local Council and held the Education and Strategic Development portfolio.
Dr. Sigal Shelach
Sigal is the former CEO of JDC Israel, and previously served as the CEO of JDC-TEVET. Sigal is a senior researcher at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Employment, and a lecturer in the Department of Labor Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Our advisors
Prof. Mario Mikulincer
Mario is a psychology professor and researcher who served as the Dean of the School of Psychology and, between 2014 and 2017, as the Vice President for Academic Affairs of what is now Reichman University. He is the recipient of the EMET Prize for 2004. Today, Mario is the head of the doctoral program in psychology at Reichman University.
Galit Itzhaki Draizin
Galit is a Jungian psychotherapist and profiler, an expert in ambiguous loss, and developer of the group model for treating bereaved families and orphans. She is the founder of WELL AL – The Israeli Center for Ambiguous Loss, and the entrepreneur behind the Emergency Academic House for Training Therapists at the Mifrasim Institute. She has over two decades of experience in clinical and community work with families of hostages, missing persons, and trauma survivors.
Prof. Merav Roth
Merav is a clinical psychologist, a training and supervising psychoanalyst at the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, and an interdisciplinary researcher of psychoanalysis and literature. She is one of the founders of FLM (First Line Med), which has been accompanying surviving hostages and families of hostages with close therapy since the beginning of the war.
Dr. Sarale Shadmi
Sara, co-founder and CEO of the Varda Center for Community Building, served as the chairperson of KAMA at Oranim College, academic director of Teach First Israel – Hotam, and partner in establishing Shadmot – Center for Leadership in the Community. She is engaged in community-building and social resilience in Israel and around the world, and among other roles, was one of the founders of the Administration for Values-Based Education in the Northern District of the Ministry of Education.
Prof. Michal Krumer-Nevo
Michal is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and holds the David and Dorothy Schwartzman Chair in Community Development. She also serves as the Honorary President of the Israeli Center for Qualitative Research of People and Society at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is the developer of the work theory of poverty-conscious social work.
Business Forum
Mali Alcobi
Chair of 255’s Business Forum
A speaker and consultant to organizations on the future of work, host of the podcast If We Live Forever, Israel’s representative in the global movement for a shorter workweek, a speaker at the Knesset on reducing working hours, and author of Superheroes and Hormon
Ari Or
Deputy CEO and Head of Human Resources, Harel
Gideon Rosenberg
VP HR, NVIDIA Israel, social activist
Miri Shalev
VP of HR, SysAid
A leader in human resources and organizational consulting, driven by a genuine passion for connecting the business world with the people who shape it. I believe deeply in people and in our ability to make a positive difference in the world. Alongside my professional work, I volunteer as a career advisor for soldiers and reservists, helping them plan their next professional steps.
Neta Feller
VP HR & board member Bonot Alternativa
Over the years, she has led initiatives to advance gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. In recognition of her social impact, she was named one of Israel’s 50 most influential women. Since October 7, she has worked closely with the Nir Oz community and, together with Natural Intelligence and Google, established Shvilim—a career mentorship program for residents of the Gaza border region, families of hostages, IDF widows, and survivors of the Nova festival.
Mor Peretz
CEO
Mor was a founder of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum and has accompanied the families ever since October 7, 2023. Previously, she served as Chief of Staff to the Director General of the Ministry of Welfare, and oversaw strategy and community development for Branco Weiss and the Jerusalem Municipality. As CEO and founder of 255, she oversees all day-to-day management of the organization, while ensuring its sustainable growth to be able to meet the diverse and evolving needs of the hostages and their families. Mor holds an MA in organizational consulting.
Alia Kadish
Individuals and Families Support Director
Alia specialized in welfare for high-risk families, specifically in circumstances of crisis and poverty over the last thirteen years. In addition to providing direct therapy, she also holds significant experience in managing and developing welfare programming to ensure holistic support is provided to clients. Most recently, she managed programming for families coping with neglect through the Ministry of Welfare national headquarters’ “Noshmim” program. Alia holds a BA in social work from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MA in social work from Bar Ilan University.
Yahel Shemesh
Director of Community Programs
Yahel is a social worker (B.A., M.S.W.) and Director of Communities at 255, with over 15 years of experience in community and humanitarian work in Israel and globally. She specializes in developing community-based and psychosocial responses to crisis and emergency, with expertise in trauma care, program development, and team leadership.
Hodaya Nissim
Operations Coordinator
Hodaya holds a BA in special and informal education. After October 7, she joined the Hostage and Missing Families Forum where she established and managed the operations team, ensuring rapid response to the hostage families’ needs at the organization’s headquarters. Previously she was a facilitator in gap year leadership programming for youth from underserved Israeli communities before drafting into the Israeli army.
Dr Molly Bernstein
Director of Development
Dr Molly Bernstein is the director of development at 255. Before joining the organization, she was the opinion editor at Haaretz English, and worked for almost a decade in humanitarian aid, leading missions around the globe in refugee crises and natural disasters. Molly holds a BA from the University of Maryland in Arabic and Government, and an MA and PhD from Tel Aviv University in Middle East History. In addition to her work at 255, she is a researcher at Tel Aviv University and at ifk Vienna.
Tal Ohana
Tal, former Mayor of Yeruham, is currently engaged in local economic development, executive training, and mentoring leaders before and throughout their political tenure. Previously, Tal was a member of the Tenders and Property Tax committees and a director of the Yeruham Economic Development Corporation. In addition, she served as the Deputy and Acting Head of the Yeruham Local Council and held the Education and Strategic Development portfolio.
Dr. Sigal Shelach
Sigal is the former CEO of JDC Israel, and previously served as the CEO of JDC-TEVET. Sigal is a senior researcher at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Employment, and a lecturer in the Department of Labor Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Prof. Mario Mikulincer
Mario is a psychology professor and researcher who served as the Dean of the School of Psychology and, between 2014 and 2017, as the Vice President for Academic Affairs of what is now Reichman University. He is the recipient of the EMET Prize for 2004. Today, Mario is the head of the doctoral program in psychology at Reichman University.
Galit Itzhaki Draizin
Galit is a Jungian psychotherapist and profiler, an expert in ambiguous loss, and developer of the group model for treating bereaved families and orphans. She is the founder of WELL AL – The Israeli Center for Ambiguous Loss, and the entrepreneur behind the Emergency Academic House for Training Therapists at the Mifrasim Institute. She has over two decades of experience in clinical and community work with families of hostages, missing persons, and trauma survivors.
Prof. Merav Roth
Merav is a clinical psychologist, a training and supervising psychoanalyst at the Israel Psychoanalytic Society, and an interdisciplinary researcher of psychoanalysis and literature. She is one of the founders of FLM (First Line Med), which has been accompanying surviving hostages and families of hostages with close therapy since the beginning of the war.
Dr. Sarale Shadmi
Sara, co-founder and CEO of the Varda Center for Community Building, served as the chairperson of KAMA at Oranim College, academic director of Teach First Israel – Hotam, and partner in establishing Shadmot – Center for Leadership in the Community. She is engaged in community-building and social resilience in Israel and around the world, and among other roles, was one of the founders of the Administration for Values-Based Education in the Northern District of the Ministry of Education.
Prof. Michal Krumer-Nevo
Michal is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and holds the David and Dorothy Schwartzman Chair in Community Development. She also serves as the Honorary President of the Israeli Center for Qualitative Research of People and Society at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is the developer of the work theory of poverty-conscious social work.
Mali Alcobi
Chair of 255’s Business Forum
A speaker and consultant to organizations on the future of work, host of the podcast If We Live Forever, Israel’s representative in the global movement for a shorter workweek, a speaker at the Knesset on reducing working hours, and author of Superheroes and Hormon
Ari Or
Deputy CEO and Head of Human Resources, Harel
Gideon Rosenberg
VP HR, NVIDIA Israel, social activist
Miri Shalev
VP of HR, SysAid
A leader in human resources and organizational consulting, driven by a genuine passion for connecting the business world with the people who shape it. I believe deeply in people and in our ability to make a positive difference in the world. Alongside my professional work, I volunteer as a career advisor for soldiers and reservists, helping them plan their next professional steps.
Neta Feller
VP HR & board member Bonot Alternativa
Over the years, she has led initiatives to advance gender equality and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. In recognition of her social impact, she was named one of Israel’s 50 most influential women. Since October 7, she has worked closely with the Nir Oz community and, together with Natural Intelligence and Google, established Shvilim—a career mentorship program for residents of the Gaza border region, families of hostages, IDF widows, and survivors of the Nova festival.
Founding
partner
Investors
Strategic
Partners
