Executive Briefing from Jewish Federation & Family Services

Executive Briefing from our Chairman and President Dear Friends of Jewish Federation & Family Services, Over the past 24 hours, we have witnessed the news, and heard from our friends and family members in Israel about the recent actions undertaken by Israel to protect herself, and the Jewish people, from a never-ending onslaught of deadly rocket attacks. Most of the media are sharing with the public that Israel was 'inciting violence' with the assassination of Hamas leader Jabari, when in fact it was Israel once again attempting to protect her people by eliminating the source of thousands of rocket attacks on the Holy Land, aimed at the homes of innocent people, of our own brother and sisters. Jabari was, in fact, also directly responsible for the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. The facts are indisputable, and it was time to say once again: enough is enough. Since 2000, more than 12,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza. Since the beginning of 2012, more than 820 rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel. And in the past two days alone, over 250 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel. To lend some perspective, if Gaza was Los Angeles, that would mean every town and city in Orange County would be within firing range of a Hamas rocket attack. Imagine the panic, the frustration, the anger, thinking about your children in school all day.  Imagine living in a democratic nation, surrounded by hatred, violence, and the erratic shelling of your family, friends, neighbors, homes, schools and shopping centers, where no place is safe. Not just border towns or “occupied” areas but, as you have heard in the news, Tel Aviv (hit twice today by Fajr-5 missiles—recently acquired from Iran), Beersheva, Sderot, and our very own Sister City, Kiryat Malachi, where the photo at right was taken just yesterday.  Click here to view video testimony by an eyewitness to the attack in Kiryat Malachi (video by former UCI Campus Shaliach Itzik Yarkoni). Clearly a response was overdue.  Put yourself in the shoes of our Israeli family: • Hamas has rockets of widely varied range, and if any aim at all, they target civilian populations. You just never know. • Several Israeli citizens have been killed and over ONE MILLION have been forced into bomb shelters, and children are educated IN the bomb shelters. • Israel has surgically targeted ONLY terrorists and weapon stockpiles (often hidden below kindergarten and elementary classrooms). • Firefighters have been put on call 24 hours a day. • Israel is told repeatedly by leadership bodies around the world that she does not have the right to defend herself. On this day, we know you will join us in mourning the deaths of the innocent victims, supporting and praying for our brave IDF soldiers, and extending our community-wide solidarity with the State of Israel in her inalienable right to protect herself from threats of death, damage, and unthinkable war. Jewish Federation & Family Services takes seriously our role to keep you closely informed on the circumstances in Israel. You can count on important updates and urgent needs being communicated to you as the hours, days, and weeks unfold. While we pray for a rapid resolution to the current crisis, we will ‘hope for the best, plan for the worst, and attend to needs as they arise.’ Today, the Executive Board of Jewish Federations of North America voted to commit up to $5 million for the immediate needs of the people of Israel, especially in the south, from both existing reserve funds and new contributions from the Federations.  Many needs are already quite urgent and we have set up a page on which you can contribute here.  We hope that you will take part in helping Israel heal and repair during this very challenging time. Thank you for your support of our community, here and abroad. Phil and Shalom Philip I. Waldman, Chairman of the Board Shalom C. Elcott, President and CEO