There is a possibility that Israel may attack Iran some time in the future. If Israel attacks Iran in an effort to destroy its nuclear program, there will likely be a multi-front attack from Iran and Iran's proxies at Israel's borders.
As has been the case in Israel's prior wars, volunteers from the Diaspora serve a crucial purpose in helping Israel during its time of need. With a call-up of reserves, there will be a need for people to work at hospitals and medical clinics, in bakeries, in civilian communities in all regions of the state, and on military bases. If history is a guide, we can expect many American Jews will want to fly to Israel to help out.
As a cause that cuts across the political spectrum and around which we believe the entire Jewish community can unite, the ZOA invited leaders of the major pro-Israel organization in Los Angeles to join with us in creating the Volunteers for Israel program. Our purpose is to provide the members of the Los Angeles Jewish community with the opportunity to fly to Israel and volunteer in civilian capacities in the event of war.
We are presently working to engage the appropriate agencies in Israel to handle logistics and deploy the volunteers upon arrival in Israel. We believe advance planning will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the volunteer effort should the need arise. It is also our hope that our Volunteers for Israel program will become a template for similar efforts in other cities throughout the United States.
We held our first meeting on September 4 with representatives from a number of pro-Israel organizations in Los Angeles, CAMERA, the Israeli Leadership Council, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the Republican Jewish Coalition, StandWithUs, as well as a representative from El Al, at our offices in the Jewish Federation building. This first meeting was a very productive brainstorming session during which all of the Jewish leaders in attendance contributed and exchanged valuable ideas as to how the Jewish community can help Israel, both in Israel and at home, in the event of war. The unity of purpose and determination to help Israel in its time of crisis were undeniable and gratifying.
There is much work to do and nobody knows how much time we'll have to do it. We will be scheduling our second meeting in the near future, and we will keep you apprised of our plans.
In the meantime, please Like our Facebook page "Volunteers for Israel" as well as our new ZOA West Facebook page.
Volunteers for Israel:
http://www.facebook.com/
ZOA West:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Maodim L'zimcha!
Steve Goldberg
National Vice Chair
Chair of LA Chapter
