By David Parsons

With Israel caught in an intense, high-stakes war with Iran, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has stepped up its activities once more to offer emergency assistance to those Israelis most impacted by the conflict. Here is a brief overview of our latest efforts to meet the most urgent needs, including aid to Holocaust survivors and other elderly, children, displaced families, first-responders and many more.

Assisting Displaced Families at Yad Mordechai
Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, located less than two kilometers from Gaza, has seen more than its share of war and terrorism, especially on October 7 when the community bravely fought off waves of Hamas gunmen before they had to be relocated for months elsewhere in Israel. That is why they now have generously decided to take in fellow Israelis who have had to leave their damaged or destroyed homes.

Oddly, the Gaza border communities are some of the safest places in Israel right now, and the Yad Mordechai is currently providing housing and refuge for some 40 displaced families – about 150 people in all. They have arrived from cities across the country, including the center and north, and from nearby Beersheva, where an Iranian ballistic missile strike just damaged or levelled a number of apartment buildings.

The Christian Embassy has a long-standing relationship with Yad Mordechai, and they instantly approached us for assistance in helping the displaced families they are hosting. We are helping to purchase basic household items, furniture, mattresses and appliances for evacuated families who have lost everything. By joining our friends at Yad Mordechai in embracing these families in their hour of need, we are assuring them that they are not alone.

In one example, an elderly couple, both 85, saw their home and neighbourhood in Beersheva destroyed this past weekend by an Iranian missile, which also left 75 people wounded. Thankfully, the couple escaped with only minor injuries. They were warmly welcomed into an empty apartment at Yad Mordechai, and the kibbutz youth quickly volunteered to move furniture and other supplies into the home. The couple are now beginning to recover from the trauma they experienced.

Assisting Holocaust survivors and elderly Israelis
The ICEJ is partnering with Israeli charitable organisations to transport Holocaust survivors and other elderly Israelis for needed medical treatments amid the war. We also are helping to move many of them to new locations where they have more accessible protective shelters nearby. Others have been moved after rockets damaged their homes. In addition, we are packing and delivering daily meals for Holocaust survivors who are home-bound due to the war. Much of this work is coordinated through call centers which Holocaust survivors know they can call whenever they need help.

One elderly man called a hotline last week to ask for help with glasses. The operator had to put him on a waiting list because all the optometrist centers have been closed in Israel because of the war. But the operator also asked why he needed new glasses. He replied: “I fell while trying to get to the shelter, and I hit my head and my vision has been declining since.”

The ICEJ is providing funds to make sure this elderly gentleman and many others like him are being taken care of and moved to safer places during this crisis.

And as reported last week, the ICEJ is taking extra care and precaution with the residents at our unique Home for Holocaust Survivors in Haifa, while our Christian team there also is helping to pack and deliver food to other survivors in the region who cannot leave home to shop for groceries.

Protective gear for First-Responders

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, the ICEJ has provided an array of emergency equipment to first-responder teams who must answer the call even when rockets are still flying. This has included donating five new ambulances, medi-cycles, medical equipment and protective gear for EMTs and others emergency teams. But with even larger missiles now flying and many damaged homes near collapse, Israel’s Home Front Command is now requiring first-responders to have higher quality helmets and vests to enter damaged buildings.

In response, the ICEJ agreed this week to provide 25 sets of the new shrapnel-proof protective helmets and vests to volunteers with ZAKA – one of Israel’s legendary first-responder networks.

Emergency Grants for Displaced Families
The ICEJ has committed to provide emergency grants to an initial 25-30 Israeli families who have been dislodged from their homes due to Iranian missile strikes and falling debris. The grants will help them provide for their families as they settle into new temporary housing elsewhere in Israel.

Trauma Care for New Immigrants
Despite the prolonged war, many Jewish families are still moving to Israel from around the world. Many are in absorption centers run by our friends at The Jewish Agency for Israel. The ICEJ has agreed to cover the costs for trauma therapy and group counselling sessions for new Israeli immigrants battling shock and fear, especially from the massive Iranian missile blasts.

Children’s activities in Bomb Shelters
As we have done during similar escalations in the fighting over recent years, the Christian Embassy is helping to provide games and toys for children from poorer neighbourhoods who are stuck in bomb shelters for hours and even entire days. We also are sponsoring youth group activities for many of these disadvantaged children.

One very touching case in Beersheva

Just a couple days into the current escalation with Iran, Nicole Yoder, our ICEJ Vice President for Aid and Aliyah, paid a visit to Beersheva right after a powerful missile strike there. While on site, she met Yoel, a Holocaust survivor originally from Poland who is now 90 years old. He cannot do much anymore except sit in his recliner. One day last week, his caregiver was on a short errand outside the home when an Iranian missile struck the neighbourhood. Yoel’s daughter lives nearby and rushed over to check on him, but found the apartment empty, with the windows blown out and shattered glass everywhere. After a frantic search, she finally found her father unharmed, sitting peacefully in the sun on a chair near an emergency tent. Even he did not know how he had survived unscratched, but it was a miracle!

Nicole spoke to the daughter and agreed on the spot to her request that the ICEJ purchase a new recliner for her father, as he enjoys it every day. This is a literal fulfilment of our biblical mandate to “comfort” the Jewish people. We also will be helping make sure this dear Holocaust survivor has what he needs going forward, as he is now temporarily evacuated to a hotel room as the family hunts for a new apartment to rent until his own home can be repaired.

Call to Action
The ICEJ also is exploring where to assist with renovating more public bomb shelters, and who might need additional emergency response equipment, among other urgent aid projects. But we need your help today to meet the many requests and needs coming to our attention.

We are not sure how long this war with Iran will last. Hizbullah has joined the battle from Lebanon, which has greatly increased the rocket and drone threat to Israel. It is time for Christians to respond once again, putting our profession of love and concern for Israel into practical actions. You can help meet the urgent needs of many by giving to our Israel in Crisis fund.

Cover photo: Damaged interior apartment in Beersheva