In the wake of today’s rocket fire on Israel, the Jewish Agency for Israel put its emergency operations into gear, providing assistance to 6,500 new immigrants in absorption centers and 5,000 seniors in assisted-living facilities located in southern Israel, as well as 7,700 young Jews visiting on Israel Experience programs.
The Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror is also providing immediate emergency funds to families whose homes were hit by rocket fire.
Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog, who arrived on Tuesday at the annual conference of the Jewish Federations of North America in Washington, D.C., said: “I have no doubt that the Jewish world will support the State of Israel, its decision-makers, the military and all the bodies that operate every day for the security of citizens in Israel. We are sending from here a warm hug to the State of Israel.”
Two families whose home suffered direct hits in towns near the Gaza border are receiving emergency assistance from the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, with one family already receiving the funds and the other set to receive tomorrow morning.
Established with the support of JFNA and Keren Hayesod, as well as other donors, the funds are meant to help cover immediate emergency needs such as medicine, food, clothing and transportation. Since 2007, 500 families have been granted such assistance.
Within hours of the attack, the Jewish Agency’s Amigour subsidiary sent construction teams to help repair homes hit by rocket fire, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance.
This immediate response not only provides financial aid, but also emotional support to the families coping with very difficult situations.
“We tell them they are not alone, and that we are there to support them, along with Jewish communities around the world,” said Yael Raz, director of the Jewish Agency’s Emergency Response Division and the Fund for Victims of Terror. “Someone arriving so soon after the attack has a huge impact on their resilience.”
Mark Wilf, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Federations of North America, said: “The Jewish community of North America has supported, and continues to fully support, our brothers and sisters. You are our family in Israel. We will always support you. Our hearts and prayers are with the victims.”