On October 7, 2023, Israel was struck by a horrific and devastating terrorist attack by Hamas. On this day, everything changed for Israel and for Jews across the world. Over 1,200 people were murdered, and more than 240 people were taken hostage, many of whom continue to suffer in captivity. They must be reunited with their families immediately. Many thousands of Israelis are displaced from their homes. Beyond Israel’s borders, antisemitism has reached levels that most of us have not experienced in our lifetime. On university campuses across the UK and US, Jewish students are suffering protests and violent threats like never before.
All the while, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are still displaced, and air raid sirens continue to punctuate the night. With a new offensive in the North, and with Israel fighting a war on two fronts, the anxiety and heartache continues. We are evaluating how to best use World Jewish Relief’s expertise to support Israel in the coming years.
After October 7 we actively assisted partners in Israel, despite not having worked there for more than two decades. First, we signposted our supporters to Israel-based charities which were responding directly to the needs of the Israeli people, and then we made a donation to partners on the ground from our own reserves. We are very proud to be continuing this work. Our love of Israel and our commitment to the Jewish people is unwavering.
In the aftermath of the attacks, we worked together with several local partners. One of these is the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC), an organization that we also work alongside in Ukraine, who are providing psychological trauma care, emotional first aid, and therapy to hundreds of Israeli adults and children displaced from kibbutzim on the Gaza border, as well as those directly affected from Bedouin communities. We are proud to be further extending this support, to ensure even more Israelis can benefit.
Meanwhile, the conflict and crisis rage on.
Israel remains in jeopardy. The literal and metaphorical sirens continue to ring out across the country, particularly in the North, with the current situation increasingly tense due to attacks from across its borders. Young Israeli men and women are continuing to give everything to support their people and their country. In addition to our own direct efforts, we continue, as we have done since October 7, to encourage community support for a range of Israel-focused charities, where support is very much still needed.
There is also a real humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Despite the significant challenges facing Israel, official Israeli Government policy is to increase humanitarian aid into the Strip through trusted partners. As the Jewish community’s humanitarian agency, we explored the possibility of responding to the humanitarian needs in Gaza for several months.
However, after much time assessing possible options and, of course, doing extensive due diligence, we felt we were in the position to provide support specifically to women and babies in Gaza, through a partner providing life-saving maternal and infant healthcare. This support was offered with the full approval of COGAT, the Government of Israel’s Authority for managing civilians under military responsibility and overseeing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, and was in response to official encouragement from the Israeli authorities for trusted partners to increase the provision of aid. In the course of our due diligence, Israel’s President, the Defense Ministers’ Office and IsraAID encouraged and connected us to Colonel Goren at COGAT.
During a webinar we hosted with JW3 on June 16, 2024, Colonel Goren, Head of Civil Affairs at COGAT, emphasized the importance, and indeed necessity, of Israel providing essential humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. He highlighted that the official Israeli Government policy is to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza through trusted partners – not because of international pressure but because these are the values of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. When asked what it meant to have a Jewish organization, like World Jewish Relief, contribute to Israeli efforts, Colonel Goren told listeners that the support of the Jewish community for field hospitals inside Gaza during a conflict represented everything that is beautiful in our religion and in Israel.
We have worked on this project alongside a global humanitarian responder. The programs it runs in Gaza – which don’t use any pre-existing infrastructure – are life-changing. The organization vets and hires all its own staff and does not use Gazan Ministry of Health staff in their field hospitals. They also do not treat armed combatants. All staff on the ground must go through a level of security checks to meet government funding requirements.
We secured private restricted funding for this project and there did not appeal for funds. Importantly, World Jewish Relief did not use any other funds given by supporters for this work.
For the last 91 years, World Jewish Relief has proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with communities in crisis across the world. We have taken a careful and considered approach to this decision, which we hope our supporters will recognize, and are proud to be working in partnership with Israel to help the country we love advance its interests. Our support to mothers and babies in Gaza is purely a humanitarian response, and not a political decision. As the Jewish community’s humanitarian agency, we are acting in response to what Israeli authorities are encouraging trusted humanitarian actors to do.
It has been an extremely troubling time for so many, and the tragedy of October 7 continues to cast huge shadows over the Jewish community. We stand alongside our community – in Israel, the UK, and around the globe – as we mourn the loss of all those who have been murdered, and anxiously await the release of the remaining hostages. We can only hope for better times ahead, and we yearn for a peaceful resolution for all those suffering. In these very challenging times, we thank you for your ongoing support.
