Three years have passed since October 7, 2023. In that time Israel has absorbed the attacks of that morning and everything that followed — three years of rocket fire from Hezbollah in the north, missiles and drones arriving without warning, and two rounds of direct conflict with Iran. Jewish Federations across North America supported Israel immediately and throughout this challenging period. The first emergency dollars moved within days, bringing light into the darkest times the country has ever known. Ultimately, our system raised an incredible $908 million for Israel. Of that, $252 million were allocated through the central fund of the Israel Emergency Response Committee, established by Jewish Federations of North America. The remainder was allocated directly by individual Federations.
Three years in, we have a clear picture of that impact. Over two years, it allocated 800 grants to over 400 organizations and initiatives across Israel, prioritizing Lifeline Services, Medical and Trauma Relief, Economic Relief and Recovery, and Community Resilience and Rebuilding. The emergency committee completed its work in Fall 2025, transitioning to the Rebuild Israel framework.
Thanks to the network and standing of our historic partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Federations acted at a scale and speed no single organization could achieve on its own.
Emergency Response & Basic Needs
Jewish Federations helped provide the first layer of relief and respite in the immediate aftermath of October 7, allocating over $47 million of emergency funds for these needs. Families who fled their homes with only what they could carry received clean clothing, hot meals, hygiene essentials, and safe shelter.
Federations also invested in preparedness. This support readied and trained volunteers, improved communication and technology, repaired and equipped shelters, and supplied essential equipment through a national JDC initiative. When millions of Israelis repeatedly raced to shelters as sirens sounded, first responders could effectively track damage, clear debris, evacuate, and care for victims.
Medical Care & Rehabilitation
Federations’ central fund allocated over $27 million for Israel’s emergency medical teams and patients. Basic ambulances were upgraded to mobile intensive care units so the injured could receive care even before arriving at the hospital. We provided medical centers throughout the country with lifesaving equipment and helped them expand capacity to meet the demands of years of war. Federations’ support also helped move hospital departments underground, so they could continue treating patients safely, and supplied advanced lifesaving equipment to local response teams across northern Israel.
As events on the ground evolved, Federations both scaled operations and rose to the new and unanticipated challenges of the war. Federations also backed pioneering rehabilitative care built for war-related injuries and opened much needed new rehabilitation centers and trained the practitioners to staff them.
Mental Health & Resilience
Another $23.2 million was allocated towards meeting the mental health needs of Israelis traumatized by the war. The past three years have shaken Israel’s national psyche, touching Israelis from all walks of life. Federations strengthened support, through resilience centers, hotlines, and pastoral care, and contributed to every psychiatric hospital in the country within the first month of the war that followed October 7.
Trauma takes many forms and affects people differently. To effectively serve Israelis impacted by trauma, Federations funded individual, couples, family, and group therapy, as well as both conventional and unconventional methods. These included therapeutic surfing, farming, and Israel’s first public art therapy clinic.
Vulnerable Populations
Jewish Federations have always stood with vulnerable populations in Israel, and our support extended into this emergency. We allocated over $19 million for those hit hardest, including children with disabilities, the hearing impaired, Bedouin villages in the Negev, elderly Israelis and Holocaust survivors, and Arab and Druze youth groups.
Victims of Terror & War
Federations supported the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror in the first days of the war. With an allocation totaling over $30 million, we helped the Fund cover immediate needs and the cost of relocating and starting again. Federations stayed with those who lived through tragedy: hostages and their families, Nova survivors, and survivors of sexual assault. When the loss was unbearably heavy, Federations helped shoulder the burden.
Reservists
Another $4.5 million was allocated to reservists and their families, who often were given little notice before their loved ones were called to the frontlines. Jewish Federations built support systems for families at home, working with national and local government to create the National Headquarters for Families of Reservists, and funded loans, employment counseling, and legal aid for reservists whose jobs and businesses suffered. As each round of reserve duty ended, we invested in the return to ordinary life.
Education & Youth At-Risk
To ease the burden on families with school-aged children, including those evacuated from the north and the south of Israel, and those at home faced with months of school closures, Jewish Federations allocated over $19 million to fund interim and remote education, as well as extracurricular activities for at-risk youth. The support helped give children and youth a routine to return to amidst so much uncertainty.
Economic Support & Partnering with Communities
Through Jewish Federations’ Israel Small Business Loan Fund, we allocated over $48 million to keep people employed, fund job placement and upskilling efforts, and relieve mounting debts. Our partners at ReGrow Israel utilized funding from the Israel Emergency Response Committee’s central fund to replace looted and destroyed farm equipment in the Western Negev and to replant burnt or untended northern orchards and vineyards.
Local Federations across the U.S. and Canada called their partner communities in Israel before they did anything else, giving directly to their partnership regions. The central fund worked alongside this model, filling in the gaps for the communities hit hardest by allocating over $28 million. This emergency support helped equip public shelters, host evacuees, reunite dispersed residents, and restore shared communal spaces.
Although the work of the central fund may be over, Jewish Federation’s commitment to rebuilding Israel never will be. Our partnerships with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the JDC have allowed us to meet the unique needs of this moment with networks both on the ground and around the world. While just a snapshot of how this support has materialized over the past three years, the impact report October 7: Three Years shows how far Federations’ efforts have gone.
You can read the full report here.