Written by Jon Stojan
Eran Zimrin’s path to leadership at ELI – The Israel Association for Child Protection, is one shaped by both personal legacy and professional evolution. Beginning his career in Israel’s textile industry and later transitioning into the insurance sector, Eran developed a deep commitment to supporting individuals through life’s most difficult moments. That sense of purpose was rooted early, growing up alongside his mother, Dr. Hanita Zimrin, the visionary founder of ELI and a pioneer in confronting the harsh realities of child abuse in Israel. After her passing, Eran stepped into the role of President, carrying forward her mission with compassion and strength.
Today, under his leadership, ELI continues to protect Israel’s most vulnerable, including children and families affected by abuse and trauma. This is being done through the deployment of highly-trained therapists, expanding services to meet a 50% surge in need, and providing long-term support to those navigating unimaginable hardship. At a time when much of the nation’s focus is on physical recovery, Eran ensures that emotional healing remains a central pillar in Israel’s resilience.
Healing the Wounds We Cannot See
At the core of ELI’s work is the urgent mission to confront and treat child abuse that can range from sexual, physical, emotional, and neglect. Under Eran’s leadership, ELI has also recognized a growing need to address a new category of trauma: children who engage in self-harming behaviors without suicidal intent, a distressing signal of deep emotional pain. These cases are becoming more frequent in the wake of recent national traumas, and ELI is responding with expanded services and specialized care.Treatment at ELI begins with the child, but rarely ends there. As each child begins to share their story, the underlying dynamics affecting the entire family often emerge. This holistic approach allows ELI’s therapists to not only support the individual child but to intervene in the family system. Key to breaking intergenerational cycles of violence and neglect. The organization reaches beyond clinical settings, working in schools and communities to focus on prevention too. Through a broad team of professionals trained in modalities like art therapy, yoga, and animal-assisted therapy, ELI has supported more than 100,000 children and families.
Leading with Courage to Break the Silence
Eran and his team actively work to dismantle the stigma that keeps families suffering in silence. Thanks to cultural shifts, change is happening. But stigma still lingers, particularly around other forms of abuse like physical and emotional violence, which are often hidden behind closed doors. These forms of trauma don’t always leave visible marks, and children affected by them often show up to school acting as if nothing is wrong. At ELI, simply walking through the front door once signaled to the world that something was wrong, often fueling shame and fear. Now, that door will bear a new name: The Dr. Hanita Center, a subtle but powerful step toward reducing stigma.
Positive Outcomes Rely On Treating The Entire Family
Recently, ELI completed treatment with a family that brought their young daughter to ELI because she said that she was touched by an older boy. After being abused by this older boy, she started abusing her younger brother. This is typical when the victim starts off being passive, then active and becomes a perpetrator themselves. Her brother also started to be treated at ELI as were the parents as they felt helpless and needed guidance. During the treatment of the parents, it came out that the mother was also a victim as a small child and she was putting her trauma on her children. The family included another brother who was not a victim or a perpetrator, but he knew what was going on and didn’t know who to identify with or what to do.All of this stress put the parents on the verge of divorce. Over the course of a year, ELI provided five different therapists, each one treating a member of the family with a different technique that met their needs. After the year, the therapists came together and asked the family members to write letters to each other. Through the therapy and coming together to discuss their pain through the letters, the family came back together.
A Nation in Crisis: Meeting the Unprecedented Demand for Trauma Support
The past year has tested the limits of trauma care in Israel. Following the October 7th massacre and the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, ELI has seen a dramatic and urgent increase in referrals. In 2024 alone, the organization responded to 10,279 cases, with an overwhelming 77% related to sexual harm. Even more alarming is the fact that only 17.6% of children come forward on their own. Most cases are reported by educators, social workers, or family members. These numbers speak to the scale of the crisis, and the continued need for vigilance, awareness, and proactive intervention.In direct response to this emergency, ELI launched a dedicated treatment fund to offer free trauma support to those most affected. The reach of this initiative paints a sobering picture: over 2,000 people received care, including 700 children, 100 foreign workers, 200 older adults, and 40 Holocaust survivors. These figures reflect how deeply the trauma has penetrated Israeli society, spanning age, background, and community.
