CHARITABLE GIVING
Despite Israeli Unrest, Organizations Find Support
GI VING
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
IN 2020 AND 2021, Israel
weathered storms on multiple
fronts: ongoing response to the
pandemic and the distribution
of vaccines and boosters, as
well as the violent Israel-Hamas
conflict flare-up in May 2021.

In Israel’s time of need,
Israel advocacy organizations
in the United States with the
help of donors, have risen
to the occasion to assist the
nation-state, and those organi-
zations have seen an increase
in giving this year.

Since 2019, American
Friends of Magen David
Adom, which assists Israel’s
emergency medical service,
has seen exponential growth in
revenue from the Philadelphia
region, from $578,522 in 2019
to $1,025,711 in 2020 and
$2,780,368 in 2021.

“Our very strong fundraising
year is really in response, in
many ways, to the tremendous
needs that Magen David Adom
has faced as a result of events
happening in Israel,” AFMDA
CEO Catherine Reed said.

Since the beginning of the
pandemic, MDA has provided
testing and vaccinations. After
the deadly Mount Meron
disaster, a crowd rush that
killed 45 on April 30, MDA
was the first to respond and,
this May, MDA was able to
treat victims within hours of
Hamas rocket attacks, largely
thanks to the proactive giving
from U.S. donors, Reed said.

AFMDA has not been alone
in having a good fundraising
year. Jewish National Fund-USA
raised $4 million in 2021, $1.5
million above its fundraising
goal, according to JNF-USA
Eastern Pennsylvania President
Dale Danilewitz.

“We make long-term
philanthropic investments
in Israel,” Danilewitz said,
“meaning that when Israel
faces a crisis, we already have
the infrastructure needed to
help them respond effectively
and remain resilient.”
JNF-USA has effectively
extinguished forest fires in
Israel’s Eshkol/Gaza Envelope
region and provided clean-up
resources after the Western
Galilee Now Tourist Information
Seventy MDA paramedics and emergency medical technicians provide COVID testing to Orthodox Jews in
Ukraine in September.
Courtesy of American Friends of Magen David Adom
Center in Akko was destroyed.

In October, six JNF-USA
Eastern Pennsylvania lay
leaders took part in JNF-USA’s
first official mission to Israel
since the onset of the pandemic,
and they are preparing for the
Celebrate Israel Mission from
Jan. 14-20.

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JEWISH EXPONENT
A JNF-USA firefighter puts out a wildfire in the Eshkol/Gaza Envelope
region of Israel.
Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA
The American Jewish
Committee Philadelphia/South
Jersey saw a 20% increase in
donations this year, Regional
Director Marcia Bronstein said.

AJC has initiatives to counter
the boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement and to
strengthen ties between Israel
and the American diaspora.

“Our donors tend to have
a more nuanced, long-term
approach to the conflict,”
Bronstein said. “They remain
hopeful for peace in the region.

The path to peace sometimes is
not very clear, but they do know
that by supporting AJC, they’re
promoting Israel’s safety and
security, and those are things
they really care deeply about.”
These organizations have
largely attributed increased
giving to the challenges Israel
has faced this year and growing
antisemitism in the U.S.

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