Jewish Federations are having unprecedented impact across every sector of Israeli society.  See these just updated, curated summaries that give insight into specific areas of Federations’ emergency allocations:

• Women
• At-Risk Youth
• Food Security
• People with Disabilities
• Young Children
• LGBTQ+ Community
• Volunteers

In addition, here are short overview documents highlighting the impact of Federations’ emergency allocations through specific grantees:

• B’shvil Hamachar
• Israel Midwives Association
• Kiryat Shmona Bagruyot Bootcamps
• Jewish Federation Emergency Loan Fund

 

The North

• Hundreds of Hezbollah rockets, drones, and other projectiles continue to be fired on Israeli cities and population centers each day, sending millions of Israeli citizens running for shelters. Earlier today, five people were killed and one seriously injured when a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an agricultural area close to the northern border. One of the victims was an Israeli farmer; the other four were foreign nationals who were working with him.
• A short while later, two people were killed when a Hezbollah rocket hit near Kiryat Atta outside of Haifa.
• White House Envoy Amos Hochstein is scheduled to arrive in Israel today amid numerous media reports of a possible draft agreement on a ceasefire in Lebanon.
  • Such an agreement could include the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 (2006), which requires the redeployment of Hezbollah north of the Litani River and international guarantees that the organization will not return to the area near Israel’s border.
  • The draft also states that the Lebanese government will deploy its national army to replace Hezbollah in the south.
  • Israel is also hoping to include the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004), which called for recognizing Lebanese sovereignty over its entire territory and the dismantlement of all armed militias, including Hezbollah.
  • Under the proposed deal, the IDF will pull most of its forces out of Lebanon now that its main objectives have been achieved and significant amounts of Hezbollah infrastructure in south Lebanon have been destroyed.
  • The deal also states that the IDF will maintain a number of positions inside Lebanon for an interim period to ensure that the agreement is being fulfilled.
  • According to some sources, Russia has agreed to act as a party to the agreement and will help to ensure that weapons are not brought into Lebanon.

Gaza

• On Tuesday, four IDF soldiers from the same unit fell in battle. All four served with the elite Multidomain Unit, and were killed in fighting in the Jabalia area, which has been the focus of the recent IDF offensive in northern Gaza. Tragically, 34 soldiers have been killed in battles in Gaza and the Lebanese front in the last two weeks alone.
• Mossad Head David Barnea met in Qatar with Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, as well as with CIA Director William Burns earlier this week. They finalized a draft hostage deal that will be presented to Hamas. The proposal involves the release of 11 to 14 hostages - including the women and elderly - still being held in exchange for both a 30-day ceasefire and also the release of several prisoners from Israeli jails. The proposal does not include a redeployment of the IDF outside the Gaza Strip, but would include international guarantees to Hamas that Israel would pull out of Gaza at a later stage.
• Earlier this week, the Knesset passed two bills aimed at blocking the operations of UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) in Israel and severely curtailing its operations in the West Bank and Gaza.
  • As a result of the bill, Israel would no longer issue entrance permits for UNRWA personnel or facilitate coordination with the IDF.
  • UNRWA was founded in 1949 to solve the issue of Arab refugees at the end of the War of Independence. Many Israelis question why, some 76 years later, the organization still exists, perpetuating the refugee status of Palestinians even though they are by now third and fourth-generation descendants of the “original” displaced Arabs.
  • The organization continues to provide refugee status for all Palestinians and has created a vast network of schools where – according to many - Palestinian children are educated to continue their 76-year-old grievance against Israel and perpetuate the “armed struggle.”
  • UNRWA today has some 30,000 Palestinians on its payroll. In recent years, many of its employees are affiliated with terror organizations or have directly participated as full members in those organizations, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
  • UNRWA schools teach curricula with severe anti-Israel and antisemitic themes. The schools have also frequently been used as storage facilities for weapons and staging bases for rocket launchers.
  • In January of this year, the New York Times profiled 12 people - including a social worker and teachers on UNRWA salaries - who played an active role in the October 7 attacks, including taking part in the Kibbutz Be’eri massacre in which 97 people were brutally murdered.
  • Watch Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon’s presentation detailing the terrorist activities of two UNRWA employees who actively participated in abductions and murders on October 7. 

Stories of Heroism and Heartache

• See this story of the late 43-year-old IDF Captain Avi Goldberg, a father of eight described by loved ones as “a man who lit up the world.” A Jerusalemite, rabbi, educator at a local boys’ high school, and gifted musician, Avi “lived for Jewish unity” and was involved in numerous social projects to strengthen Israeli society and bring diverse groups together. He had served 250 days of reserve duty during the past year.  He was killed in southern Lebanon last week during clashes with Hezbollah terrorists. In a nod to his dedication to unity, his family made an unusual request. They asked that any politician who attends his shiva should arrive paired with a person from an opposing political party.