Almost daily, barrages of kassam missiles shake the Israeli city of Sderot and the settlements of the Western Negev, taking a heavy toll, both in personal injuries and property damage. Families live in constant fear and anxiety. Children are virtual prisoners in their own homes. When the alarms go off, residents have only 15 seconds to get to shelter.  As the situation continues to escalate, Gila Noam, the JCF Israel Director, offers a first-hand field report from Sderot this week.

Once again, Israelis are under attack; and once again, you and the Jewish Federation community are there to help. In fact, your support for Israel in starting with last year’s war with Lebanon is continuing to help Israelis deal with continued attacks and the resulting traumas, this time in the South. Thousands of people in the Western Negev have already benefited from these services, and thousands more will be helped. On their behalf, we thank you for your gift to the Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC).

Through IEC funds, we have allocated close to $500,000 for emergency support programs in and around Sderot and more than $5 million dollars of emergency campaign allocations have been raised thus far providing help throughout the country.