Israel at War: Israel Rises - Women at War

As we close the 35^thday of war, I wanted to share with you some updates about the evolving needs on the ground, as we’ve been doing since the horrific attacks of October 7^th.

My previous updates, which you can find here, are still relevant, so I encourage you to peruse them as we only include new or changed needs in every new update. This one is a little lengthy but I hope you’ll take some time this weekend to read it.

As the war enters its 42^ndday, our commitment to stand firm with Israel and its people for as long as it takes is unwavering. As we’ve been doing since the beginning of the crisis, we are keeping you up to date with the developments on the ground and the emerging philanthropic needs.

Although the IDF has secured many of the main sites in Gaza City, the campaign is far from over, highlighting the unique nature of this conflict and confirming what we’ve known from the beginning: that is going to be long crisis with many new and evolving needs.

You can find our previous updates here, which are still relevant, and our list of vetted needs that we update continuously here.

In terms of changing needs, here’s what we are observing:

• While the morale of Israelis remains high, the lengthy duration of this crisis is being felt in many ways. For example, the outpouring of voluntarism in Israeli society is starting to recede, mostly because volunteers need to return to their jobs, or in some cases, can’t cope with the emotional stress of some of the tasks they’ve been performing – like assisting victims and their families. Nonprofits, for instance, need to hire paid workers to do tasks that were being performed by volunteers, This puts great financial stress on these organizations. So we can expect more requests for capacity and staffing from some of the relief organizations.
• The length of the crisis is taking a toll on the reservists’ families. It’s important to remember that this reserves call-up, in both magnitude and duration, is unprecedented. As a comparison, the Yom Kippur was lasted 18 days, and we are past double that timeframe with no end in sight. Spouses of reservists are stretched thin, taking care of work, childcare, and helping others. Children are experiencing emotional stress from the situation and some families are starting to experience economic hardship. We will need to be alert to emerging needs in that realm.
• There continue to be issues with evacuees – especially those from the north of the country, as well as self-evacuees. There’s a growing feeling that the situation of the self-evacuees is not being properly managed by the relevant authorities, and nonprofits will need to contribute in a bigger way. The problem is compounded by the fact that many local authorities and municipalities – which did a good job of keeping tabs of their residents dispersed around the country – are losing track of their people as evacuees move from one temporary residence to another. Funders should encourage their grantees to look at this issue, and our convening power should be used to gather the relevant players and push them to joint action.
• Despite this, local authorities, municipalities, and regional councils continue to provide vital services for their displaced residents. In many cases, they operate much better, and closer to the ground, than the national government. Funders should look to partner with local authorities whenever possible. Mind that the October local elections were postponed for January, and some local governments may change after that. It’s important to make sure that whatever joint project one starts now will continue after January.
• The economic toll of the war is being seen very acutely now. The impact is both direct and indirect. The reservists’ mobilization is costing the economy USD 600 million a week, and many businesses are suffering due to lack of staff and/or customers. Obviously, the businesses in the evacuation zones are devastated, but restaurants in Tel Aviv, for example, are suffering too. There are several organizations and initiatives helping the business sector that you can find here, but this is prompting strategic conversations about strengthening the resilience and flexibility of Israel’s labor force. One particularly affected sector is agriculture, both because of the damage to the kibbutzim in the south and north, and also due to the lack of foreign workers, many of whom left the country after Oct. 7^th. A significant number of Palestinians worked in Israel, and their absence is now felt. The government has approved the emergency recruitment of 140,000 foreign workers, but that is a “band-aid.” There’s a role for philanthropy to play in the deeper conversations and strategic rethinking that is needed.
• In general, this crisis is sparking questions about the resilience of Israeli economy, from food self-sufficiency to redundancies in the hi-tech sector. While it’s still early to discuss this now, funders should flag this issue for the “rebuilding conversations.” The shock to some sectors has been so strong that there’s an openness to rethink them and even rebuild them from the ground up. To borrow a phrase, to “build back better,” rather than “going back to normal.”
• The heartbreaking situation of the hostages’ families is not improving, and the needs are growing. We are encouraging funders to keep supporting the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
• The disaffection of Jewish funders with American academia due to their toleration of antisemitism is prompting conversations about redirecting investments to Israeli universities. Could this be an opportunity for collective action among funders to strengthen Israeli academia as a whole? Could we, for example, create mechanisms for Israeli researchers working around the world to go back to Israel and enrich local universities? If you are interested in thinking about this, please let us know, as several of our members are deeply invested in that space.
• Israel Rises, the platform for cross-sector partnerships addressing needs and responses to the crisis, is working full steam. We ran a tutorial to help people access and use it. You can see the recording here. The platform is best suited to serve specific, ad-hoc needs in real time. It’s particularly useful for funders that don’t have staff at their foundations, and many of our members are using the platform to engage their children with concrete, hands-on opportunities to help.
• As I’ve mentioned in previous updates, there is an acute need to address existing and emerging women’s issues in Israel. The JFN Israel Gender Giving Steering Committee is urging the philanthropic community to join their efforts in addressing these gender-specific dimensions of the crisis in Israel. The Committee is calling upon the national appeal campaigns to safeguard the wellbeing of women and girls by committing an ongoing allocation of resources to women’s organizations, and they urge the donor community to invest strategically to support coordinated initiatives within the ecosystem of women’s organizations in Israel. Please read their full statement here. To learn more join us for our Women in War webinaron Tuesday, November 21.
• Similarly, Jewish leadership and foundations should call out women’s organizations in the US and other Western countries that remained silent about the gender violence perpetrated by Hamas.
• As we all feel, the fight against antisemitism is becoming more complex and multifaceted. However, it’s not easy for funders to navigate this field. To help in that regard, JFN has created a mapping of organizations fighting antisemitism, and through our new consulting service, we are offering personalized advice on how to fund in that space. Please, write to us here.
• In that context, this week, we held a webinar on the Media, Messaging, and Misinformation. Jewish leaders in media, journalism, and communications shared how they are conducting the urgent and necessary work today of ensuring effective and responsible communication about Israel. This particular session was not recorded, but I wanted to provide you with a pair of resources that were shared. The Jerusalem Press Club provided this linkto their ongoing coverage and resources on the war, including video and audio briefings with experts and news from the ground. Jewish Unpacked shared their guide to the war, including informative podcasts, videos, and articles on different categories pertaining to the crisis.

As you can glean from this update, we are starting to see that the exit of the crisis will entail a full reevaluation, and probably a refoundation of many aspects of Israeli life, from agriculture to social cohesion, from mental health to education. In that context, our International Conference in Israel next March (which will go ahead now more than ever) will be a unique opportunity to have those in-depth conversations and work together on new ideas. Jews have ALWAYS come out of adversity stronger and better, and this time will be no exception.

Keep strong and safe, and pray for our soldiers and for the safe return of all the hostages.

Am Israel Chai.

Andres