Plans to Rebuild Battered Israel Envelope to be Unveiled at Breakfast for Israel
NEWTON, Mass., February 21, 2024 — Bold and visionary plans to rebuild the southern Israeli communities that were ravaged by Hamas terrorists on October 7 will be revealed at Jewish National Fund-USA’s Breakfast for Israel in Newton on Monday, April 8, 2024, at 7:15 am.
Chaired by local philanthropists, Ellen & Richard Calmas, Alex Iselin, Ellen & Adam Rizika, and Harris Wallack, the Breakfast for Israel solidarity event, returning to New England for the first time in person since 2019, will commemorate the bitter and the sweet — remembering those who were murdered, kidnapped, and injured following the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history, while planning for brighter days ahead when the more than 100,000 displaced Israelis return home.
Featured speaker, Jewish National Fund-USA CEO, Russell F. Robinson, will brief attendees about the organization’s immediate response to this catastrophic moment in Israel’s history and reveal the organization’s “Livnot B’Yachad – Build Together” plan that will repair and heal a wounded nation.
“With volunteers from Israel and around the world coming together and working with community leaders, we will rebuild, repaint, and replant,” said Robinson. “We will provide new furniture. We will place benches on front lawns, redo the roads, rebuild parks, and repaint shelters and buildings.”
“We will create a secure, beautiful haven that all residents will want to return to, and increase the population in these critical communities, displaying to the world the unity of our Jewish people and of Zionists everywhere,” added Breakfast for Israel Co-Chair, Alex Iselin.
Through its Israel Resilience Campaign (jnf.org/supportisrael), Jewish National Fund-USA has raised almost $60 million since the “Black Shabbat” and has supported the evacuation and relocation of tens of thousands of residents in Israel’s south while providing thousands more with housing, food, clothing, education, trauma therapy, firefighting and protective equipment for civil defense, and more.
“Jewish National Fund-USA has worked in close partnership with all the communities on the Gaza border for decades,” said Rhonda Libman Forman, President of Jewish National Fund-USA’s Boston Board of Directors. “No other organization is so uniquely prepared to assist in meeting the emergency needs created by the current crisis and the real, long-term needs of tomorrow. We could think of no better time to bring back the organization’s signature annual event, as our community continues to stand in solidarity with the people of Israel like never before.”
For more information or to register, visit jnf.org/BFIBoston or contact Sara Hefez, Jewish National Fund-USA Executive Director, New England & the Capital Region at shefez@jnf.org or 617.423.0999 x811.
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Media Contact:
Jennifer Milton
About Jewish National Fund-USA
Jewish National Fund-USA builds a strong, vibrant future for the land and people of Israel through bold initiatives and Zionist education. As a leading philanthropic movement, the organization supports critical environmental and nation-building activities in Israel’s north and south as it develops new communities in the Negev and Galilee, connects the next generation to Israel, and creates infrastructure and programs that support ecology, people with disabilities, and heritage site preservation, all while running a fully accredited study abroad experience through its Alexander Muss High School in Israel. Learn more at jnf.org.