Although a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas was reached on November 21, the conflict is “far from over,” Israeli officials say.
“Millions of Israelis are still under rocket fire or in bomb shelters. It’s too early to declare this finished, but we hope it will be,” said Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren during a teleconference just after the cease-fire, held by The Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council of Public Affairs.
JFNA’s Israel Terror Relief Fund is addressing the most critical needs in Israel, providing support to children, people with disabilities and special needs, seniors and families who are victims of terror.
The Jewish Agency for Israel, for example, has organized in recent days outings for 30,000 children and teenagers from Southern Israel at a range of venues in the center of the country on Nov. 22. This has provided much-needed respite and relaxation out of rocket range. The children the Biblical Zoo (where they were joined by Natan Sharansky), the KifTzuba children’s amusement park and the Ramat Gan Safari among many others, as reported in eJewishphilanthropy.
The JDC, another JFNA partner, has mobilized volunteers from its network of programs to operate activities for children confined to bomb shelters and create arts and crafts kits and game activities. JDC is also collaborating with the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and making its AMEN volunteers available to assist JAFI Absorption Centers in Southern Region as needed.
JFNA has made up to $5 million available to address the most critical needs in Israel, in collaboration with The Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), World ORT and the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC). To learn more about the JFNA Israel Terror Relief Fund, click here.