With growing concerns over an intensifying war on Israel’s northern borders, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) announced they will procure nine armored vehicles for border communities to the tune of $2 million.
Since the onset of the war, the IFCJ has distributed more than $19 million to communities throughout the country with a heavy focus on civilian defense and medical response. This latest allocation will provide community leaders and civilian security personnel with armored vehicles that will allow safer travel in areas close to the border fence.
While the vast majority of residents have been evacuated from the border areas, local security, and other essential personnel remain in the affected areas to oversee critical infrastructure as well as agricultural operations which continue despite the escalating threats. The communities that will receive the vehicles are Shlomi, Metula, Kiryat Shemona, and the regional councils of Maale Yosef, Upper Galilee, Merom Galil, Mevo’ot Chermon, Golan, and Mateh Asher.
Ilan Isaacson, the Security Chief for the Eshkol Regional Council along the Gaza border says his life was saved on October 7 thanks to his IFCJ-donated armored vehicle. “On that morning, I used my armored jeep and as I was rushing towards the closest army installation I saw a group of terrorists riding on motorcycles and heard gunshots. Directly in front of me, two pickup trucks shot out, filled with terrorists. When they got closer they started shooting at me but the armor of the jeep repelled the bullets and I escaped.”
Safwan Marich, Director of the Safety and Emergency Response Division for IFCJ explained, “Our goal is to support Israel’s physical defense and overall resilience. To achieve that, we are in daily contact with all the relevant security personnel to determine their needs. Knowing how critical these armored vehicles were for the south, we set out to make sure they would be available for security teams on the northern borders which will enable them to continue to function in the face of an escalating threat.”
IFCJ’s President Yael Eckstein said, “Well before the onset of this terrible war, we had been working to address the security needs of Israel’s communities and it is therefore a source of pride and comfort to see how that investment helped save countless lives on that fateful October day. With that knowledge and experience, we see it as our responsibility, opportunity, and privilege to further expand our support in ways that we know will now help on the northern border.”
In the past 40 years, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, founded by the late Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, has raised $3.1 billion to support vulnerable communities in Israel.
