Israel Emergency Campaign
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Israel Emergency Campaign:
What is It?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Israel Emergency Campaign (IEC)?
The IEC is a continental effort by United Jewish Communities/the Federations of North America to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to help Israel recover and rebuild from its recent conflict.

Where do the funds go?
One-hundred percent of money raised goes directly to our overseas partners, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel, and to non-profit agencies they support, for their activities and programs in Israel that support the most vulnerable populations in Israel’s embattled north.

How are IEC funds being used?
During the crisis, funds went toward immediate, emergency needs such as:

  • Bringing children in the embattled north to summer camps in relatively safer areas in central and southern Israel;
  • Counseling people suffering from trauma and training trauma counselors;
  • Providing activities for children in shelters;
  • Aiding the physically and/or developmentally disabled;
  • Delivering food and medical assistance to elderly dependent on home services suspended due to attacks;
  • Adding staff for elderly day-care facilities;
  • Equipping shelters with air conditioners, TVs and other necessities;
  • Offering temporary housing for those uprooted from conflict areas;
  • Providing emergency medical services;
  • Providing readiness programs to help children adjust to being back in school;
  • Extending small-business grants to help those impacted by the war;

After the war ended, funds were directed toward three main areas, including education, community capacity, or helping communities deal with social issues, and economic opportunity, or providing financial aid to boost jobs and businesses. This aid is going toward:

  • Supplementing the UJC-JPCA Israel Advocacy Initiatives;
  • Enhancing post-trauma services;
  • Supporting the Fund for the Victims of Terror, which helps counsel and care for terror victims;
  • Rebuilding communal infrastructure -- community centers, libraries, day care centers and homes for elderly;
  • Providing temporary housing while homes are rebuilt;
  • Helping low-income families pay for school supplies and tuition;
  • Training the newly unemployed;
  • Awarding small-business loans to those in the North and to those in the South still under missile fire;
  • Awarding scholarships for university students drafted during the war and unable to work to cover tuition;
  • Upgrading emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks;
  • Providing consulting services to municipalities to help them better plan and deal with emergencies;
  •  Supporting food-distribution networks to the needy;
  • Expanding educational programs for Ethiopian immigrants in the North;

Is there a fundraising goal?

The IEC aimed to raise a minimum of $300 million. As of April, 2007, the IEC raised more than $359 million (including more than $45 million from Canada), with UJC receiving $184 million in cash from federations. UJC has allocated more than $221 million from its U.S. funds to-date and continues to assess ongoing needs (Canadian federations allocate funds through Keren Hayesod).

Do donations go only to Jews?
No: we are helping all vulnerable populations, including Israeli Arabs, Druze and Jews.

How can I donate?
There are several ways to help.

Through your local federation, you can write a check, donate online or use your credit card over the phone. Please refer to Jewish Finder on our Web site to find your federation or Network community. You can also refer to our frequently updated list of communities that are taking donations online.

You can also donate directly to the Israel Emergency Campaign, either by check, online or over the phone by credit card.

To donate by check, make the check out to United Jewish Communities and send it to:

  • P.O. Box 20
    Old Chelsea Station
    New York, NY 10113
    Attn: Israel Emergency Campaign

To donate by credit card or make a pledge, call toll free (877) 277-2477. From outside of the United States, call (212) 284-6944.

If you want to designate your gift to a specific purpose, please call ujcdirect at (212) 284-6944.

You can also donate online, here.

Important: Your contact information will not be sold or shared. We will inform your local federation if you made a donation.

What else can I do to help Israel?

  1. Here are five easy ways to advocate for Israel - click here.
  2. Write to your Senator or Representative in Congress, urging them to back resolutions affirming Israel’s right to self-defense.
  3. Write or call the White House to thank President Bush for his support of Israel’s right to defend itself. The White House number is (202) 456-1111. E-mail is comments@whitehouse.gov.
  4. Contact your federation about Israel solidarity missions.
  5. Host an informal parlor meeting to educate others about Israel.

Where do I find other IEC resources?
For more on the crisis, go to UJC’s IEC page. If you are a federation professional, you can find marketing collateral and other resources on the interoffice IEC page.