Jul 8, 2014

A Statement on Operation Protective Edge

As you may or may not know by now, the situation in Israel has escalated to the point where the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Protective Edge on Monday, July 7 with some 1,500 IDF reservists called up for active duty, and a further draft of some 40,000 approved. In the last 24 hours, sirens have sounded throughout Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ra’anana and Jerusalem.

We are deeply troubled that the intense rocket fire from Gaza is now reaching far into Israel’s most heavily populated areas, although we are greatly relieved that the Iron Dome Defense System has thus far been successful at intercepting many of these rockets.

However, just yesterday, a farm was destroyed, and staff at the Soroka Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Be’er Sheva rushed newborns to a protected area. A retirement home in Yavne was also hit, and a large fire broke out in Ashdod when a rocket hit an empty house. While physical injuries have been kept to a minimum, social support services are seeing a big spike in calls to help lines and other requests for assistance.

All citizens have been instructed to remain close to a shelter at all times as Israel is ending the day preparing for another night of rocket fire. It is expected that sirens will blast throughout the country for a third night.

The Jewish Federations of North America, our Federation umbrella organization, has already convened our emergency roundtable and met with our partner agencies, The Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, as well as the Israel Trauma Coalition. Together, we are monitoring the situation on the ground. Our communal system is ready to mobilize if our assistance is needed, and we will keep you up to date as the situation evolves.

Our thoughts are with the people of Israel, and we hope they can soon return to their normal, peaceful lives.

With prayers for everyone in harm’s way in Israel.