The UJA-Federation of New York will send $1 million to an Israeli humanitarian group providing aid to civilians in Gaza, the federation’s CEO announced on Friday.
The funds will go to IsraAID, Israel’s largest nongovernmental aid organization, to supply food, medicine and water filtration systems for displaced Gazans. IsraAID has traditionally operated in disaster zones abroad, from earthquake relief in Turkey to aid for Ukrainian refugees, but since Oct. 7 has expanded its work to Israel and now into Gaza.
In a letter to the community, UJA CEO Eric Goldstein condemned Hamas for holding hostages, obstructing aid and provoking the conflict, but said that the Jewish community is nevertheless compelled to help alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza while
“What many of us feel is a confluence of unbearable grief, anger, and the moral imperative — the Jewish imperative — to act,” Goldstein wrote. “Not everyone agrees on what should be done, or how. There is anguish and outrage around every perspective. We must hold tight to what has always anchored the Jewish people: the belief that all human life is sacred.”
IsraAID says it has already reached more than 100,000 people in Gaza through partnerships with the Israel Defense Forces’ Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories and international agencies.
The pledged donation is far larger than any previously announced aid contributions to Gaza by Jewish groups. Earlier this month, the American Jewish Committee said it would give $25,000 to the Archdiocese of New York to aid in repairs of Gaza’s Holy Family Church, which was damaged by an Israeli strike. Three people were killed and others injured in the incident.
The announcement comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens — and as some Jews have called for Jewish leaders to take a more assertive stance against it.
The United Nations warned this week of “starvation, pure and simple,” reporting that 98 children have died from acute malnutrition since last October, 37 of them in the last month. Aid deliveries have slowed to a fraction of prewar levels amid continued Israeli military operations. Israel contests reports of starvation and says it has expanded aid entering Gaza substantially since last month.
The AJC’s announcement noted Israel’s explanation that the damage was caused by “stray ammunition” from a nearby operation and that the church was not targeted. The gift marked a rare, possibly unprecedented, donation by a mainstream U.S. Jewish group toward Gaza Palestinians during wartime, and was framed by the AJC as a gesture to sustain Jewish-Catholic relations.
Israel’s security cabinet is weighing a plan to fully conquer Gaza and hand control to Arab forces, while U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal to avert the operation. Protests have erupted in Tel Aviv and other cities in recent days, calling for renewed negotiations and an end to the war.
Internationally, momentum is growing toward recognition of Palestinian statehood. On Monday, Australia became the latest country to support recognition, saying it would do so at next month’s United Nations General Assembly, a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized as “shameful” and that some Jewish organizations have described as rewarding Hamas. New Zealand said it may follow suit.
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