FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sarit Schonbrun
JNF Communications Manager
212-879-9305 ext. 222
sschonbrun@jnf.org
Jewish National Fund Announces Operation Security Blanket for Israel
July 18, 2006 -- New York, NY -- Responding to the escalating crisis in Israel, Jewish National Fund (JNF) has announced Operation Security Blanket, an emergency campaign empowering American Jews to provide immediate relief for Israeli children living in areas under rocket attack and security for Israeli citizens along the Gaza border.
For the next two weeks, JNF offices across the country will host emergency JNF FOR ISRAEL DAY phone-a-thons. Thousands of volunteers will make calls on their cell phones to raise funds to:
- Send Israeli children to JNF-KKL summer camps in central Israel, giving them a reprieve from the constant barrage of rockets and allowing them to enjoy their summer vacations and the beauty of the land of Israel.
- Build security roads along the border with Gaza to protect the area’s residents as they travel to work and school.
- Purchase emergency response vehicles/fire trucks, bulletproof vests, and helmets for firefighters and emergency response personnel.
With an estimated 100,000 Israeli children currently living in bomb shelters, JNF will work to restore a sense of normalcy and calm for as many as possible by sending them to summer camps in central Israel, out of range of rocket fire. Nes Harim, a camp in Jerusalem’s American Independence Park, will work at full capacity to accommodate hundreds of children at a time for three-day stays. Israel's top youth movement, Chugei Sayarut, a division of JNF-KKL, is also retrofitting forest sites for summer camps throughout central Israel and the northern Negev for five- to seven-day stays. JNF-KKL will provide roundtrip transportation, food and activities, and security.
Money is also being raised to build new security bypass roads along the border with Gaza. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago, Jewish National Fund immediately built security roads on the Lebanese border to protect the citizens of the region as they traveled to work and school. These roads have played an integral part in ensuring the security of Israeli citizens, and today, as the current crisis unfolds, they are critical as ever.
Immediately after the withdrawal from Gaza just under one year ago, JNF-KKL began building three security roads in the region to ensure the safety of Israeli citizens living on the Gaza border. Funds are needed for their completion so they can provide the same sense of security to their users as the northern ones did for those residents.
“After the withdrawal from Lebanon I was terribly afraid,” said Esty Shani, a 59-year old mother of three who lives on Kefar Gil’adi, the first kibbutz established in the Galilee Panhandle. “The road was very close to the border and completely exposed to Lebanon. The Hizbollah could sit and fire at us, if they only wanted to. The new road gives the feeling of security and now I travel alone at night and without fear.”
“I want my son to go out every morning and for no one’s heart to skip a beat,” said Eddie Smuha, an Iraqi native who lives on Kibbutz Malkiyya. “The new road reduces the risk, both physically and psychologically. I now feel many times more secure."
Jewish National Fund has consistently been on the ground in Israel with action, not just words. Operation Security Blanket will continue to provide real and tangible benefits to the citizens of Israel.
Donations to Operation Security Blanket, which began to come in on Friday as soon as the campaign was announced, can be made online at http://www.jnf.org/ or by calling your local JNF office at 888-JNF-0099. One hundred percent of donations to this emergency campaign will be used to send children to summer camps in central Israel, construct security roads on the border with Gaza, and purchase emergency response vehicles/fire trucks, bulletproof vests, and helmets for firefighters and emergency response personnel. To volunteer for JNF FOR ISRAEL DAY in your area, call 888-JNF-0099.
JNF's speakers are also available to address the current crisis in Israel. To reserve a speaker from JNF's Speaker's Bureau, contact Ilana Bernstein at http://www.jnf.org/or (212) 879-9305 ext. 297 or visit the Speaker's Bureau web page on the JNF website. To reach one of JNF's Israel emissaries who are available to speak or for comments, contact:
Avinoam Binder, Chief Israel Emissary,
abinder@jnf.org or (212) 879-9305 ext. 241
Gideon Shavit, KKL emissary in Florida,
gshavit@jnf.org or (305) 682-0025
Rami Ganor, KKL emissary in Los Angeles
rganor@jnf.org or (818) 704-5454
Kami Robinson, KKL emissary in Detroit,
krobinson@jnf.org or (248) 324-3080
Micha Danieli, KKL emissary on Long Island,
mdanieli@jnf.org or (516) 678-6805
Tali Tzour, KKL emissary in New Jersey,
ttzour@jnf.org; or (973) 593-0095
# # #
Jewish National Fund is a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of the land of Israel, on behalf of its owners—Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted over 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed over 250,000 acres of land, created more than 1,000 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment. Today, JNF is putting its century of experience to work with the Blueprint Negev initiative, supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers in developing the Negev Desert Israel’s last frontier. For more information on JNF or to plant trees in Israel, call 1-800-542-TREE (8733) or visit http://www.jnf.org/. To contact your local office, please call 888-JNF-0099 or visit http://www.jnf.org/.
