$2.7 million emergency aid package includes help for victims of destruction, emergency supplies, bomb shelters, help for first responders

Contact: Jim Jewell, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, 312-641-7200, 678-458-9837(cell), jim.jewell@ifcj.org

CHICAGO and JERUSALEM, Nov. 16, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship) announced today increased funding of emergency aid for families in southern Israel and new security projects to assist communities in the line of fire. Rocket attacks on cities in southern Israel are continuing as the IDF launches a wide assault on terrorists and military infrastructure in Gaza Strip.

A $2.7 million emergency and security aid package includes supplies for the people in communities under fire in southern Israel, including Netivot, Sderot, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Sdot Negev, and Eshkol.  The assistance includes:

• Basic supplies for children and families and the elderly in shelters--including food, medicine, diapers, blankets, mattresses, and generators. 
   
• Evacuation of families left homeless, and food and other supplies for these people. 
   
• Generators for emergency command centers, and food for emergency staff and volunteers.
   
• Renovation of 50 bomb shelters in the southern Israel cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beer Sheva and Netivot
   
• Reinforced trauma clinic in the Eshkol Regional Council
   
• Equipment and training for community first responders
   
• 28 emergency command centers in endangered towns and cities

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and CEO of The Fellowship:  "With 20 percent of the nation's people in bomb shelters today, improving the security of the residents of the south is a vital priority for The Fellowship.  The untenable situation of more than 1 million residents living under constant threat of rocket fire must top the list of concerns of every friend of Israel. We are working hand-in-hand with the Israel Ministry for Home Front Defense and the IDF, and we will continue to cooperate to ensure the security of Israel's people."

Home Front Defense Minister Avi Dichter told the Jerusalem Post that The Fellowship's contribution would "enable communities to be active, whether in the form of emergency teams or the provision of emergency services such as health clinics and fortified public shelters... I applaud Rabbi Eckstein's move, which will directly affect the million residents of the South."

The $2.7 million in emergency assistance is in addition to a series of projects costing $5.6 million that The Fellowship has funded during the past year to strengthen the emergency security system in Israel.