07/10/2026
Post 3/4: "October 7th at 6:29 in the morning will be a day and time that none of us will ever forget. It was a Saturday, and I was still at home in bed, already hearing the sound of rockets, even though I live in the center of the country. My phone started ringing. I turned on the TV and, within minutes, realized that something serious was happening in the Gaza Envelope.
Within an hour, it became clear that Israel was under severe attack and at war. People immediately got into their cars and headed toward the Gaza Envelope to provide support, even though none of us yet understood the scale of the catastrophe.
I contacted Russell F Robinson, our CEO, knowing that at exactly 6:30 a.m. Israel time, he was taking off from New York to arrive in Israel for a special The Jerusalem Post ceremony recognizing influential Jewish leaders in the world, and to also honor 25 young Zionist leaders.
Over the next 10 to 11 hours, we exchanged messages. I could not believe that the pilot had not informed the passengers about what was happening, and I was equally surprised that the flight was allowed to land in Israel. Nevertheless, it did.
Within a few hours, we established an emergency operations center to support our friends, community leaders, and residents with whom we had worked for years in developing the Eshkol region, Shaar HaNegev, and the entire Gaza Envelope area in Israel's South. We set up in the boardroom of our Muss high school located just outside of Tel Aviv and began making calls to understand the situation on the ground.
Fortunately, some time before the war broke out, I had asked the Jewish National Fund - USA team to prepare an inventory of all available rooms throughout the Negev, from the Arava to the central Negev, that could be used in an emergency to host families for several nights, in case of escalation. Because of that preparation, we had an organized list and knew exactly which locations could absorb residents fleeing their homes in the Gaza Envelope.
Due to the amazing relationships and close work with the communities of Israel's Gaza Envelope, we knew who to contact, and we began calling mayors, community leaders, and residents in the affected areas.
Many were whispering because they were still hiding from terrorists. At the same time, we contacted mayors across the rest of the Negev, including Ramat HaNegev, Central Arava, Eilot, Yerucham, Mitzpe Ramon, Arad, and more, to confirm their capacity to receive evacuees.
For the first two to three weeks, our primary focus was evacuating residents from the Gaza Envelope to communities across the country. As the situation unfolded, we realized the crisis was far larger than initially expected.
We saw that towns, villages, kibbutzim, and moshavim absorbing evacuees had, in some cases, doubled their populations overnight. They lacked basic necessities: mattresses, baby supplies, toys, clothing, food, medical equipment, waste-management resources, and countless other essentials required for daily life.
For the next three months, our emergency operations room functioned daily from 7:00 a.m. to midnight. We contacted every mayor in the absorbing communities to identify their needs.
At 4:00 p.m. each day, we held a call with the leadership of Jewish National Fund-USA, including our CEO and CFO, to review requests, funding needs, and approvals. Within 24 hours, either the necessary equipment or funding was delivered to the communities.
It was a remarkable operation.
To this day, mayors across the South continue to tell me that no other organization functioned as effectively during the war as Jewish National Fund-USA.
When we speak about resilience, we mean the ability to confront difficult times and continue functioning as individuals, families, and communities. One of the foundations of resilience is stability—the knowledge that reliable support exists and will not disappear.
What Jewish National Fund-USA provided during those months was exactly that. Because we had worked with these communities for years before the war—supporting demographic growth, economic development, and quality of life—we already knew the people, the leadership, and the local realities.
We knew who to call and how to help. By understanding communities, knowing their needs, and maintaining deep connections over time, we are able to stand beside them whenever they need us most."
~ Tali Tzour Avner, Jewish National Fund-USA Chief Israel Officer
