The number of individuals in Israel diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus rises daily, and pro-Israel Christian organizations have joined the struggle to help contend with the pandemic in the Jewish state.
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) has decided to lend a hand in Israel’s fight against the pandemic and approved over the weekend $2 million in special grants to 15 hospitals for respiratory equipment and other lifesaving machinery.
Additionally, The IFCJ purchased 20 special testing devices for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s emergency medical response organization. The devices will help the staff test patients and reduce the burden on hospitals, preventing unnecessary contact between Coronavirus patients and their surroundings.
The organization says that it has received dozens of requests over the past week from hospitals finding it difficult to manage without some of the required medical equipment. The IFCJ has expedited grant approvals and the hospitals have already begun the procurement process.
The IFCJ has put emphasis is prioritizing hospitals in Israel’s periphery which are at increased risk of collapse in the event of a Coronavirus patient overload.
The assistance to hospitals is part of a $5 million emergency fund that the Fellowship announced earlier this month. The fund also provides basic needs to the elderly who are more vulnerable to the Coronavirus than other age groups.
In support of this effort, the Fellowship started a fundraising campaign, mobilizing thousands of its donors from around the world to raise money for Israelis in need as they cope with the pandemic.
Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the IFCJ, said that “Israel is dealing with an emergency like it has never known, and we are all committed to enlisting and assisting the medical teams that are at the forefront in this struggle. This is an urgent need, and we will go above and beyond in order to help in every way possible.”
Similarly, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) is helping to care for elderly Israelis confined to the homes, including hundreds of Holocaust survivors. “While the government’s measures to fight the Coronavirus is impacting the whole country, I am glad we are still able to help Israel pull through this crisis in a number of ways,” said ICEJ President Dr. Jürgen Bühler.
The ICEJ has seven Christian staff and volunteers in Haifa who have been helping to pack and deliver food boxes to hundreds of senior citizens in the city who are confined to their homes as a health precaution.
The ICEJ team also was specially tasked with providing food and daily care, including medical checks, for the 70 residents at its Haifa Home for Holocaust survivors, who must stay in their rooms as well.
In addition, ICEJ staff in Jerusalem packed and delivered food boxes this past week to a number of elderly and disabled Israelis who are regularly cared for by its team of nurses.
This coming week, the Christian Embassy will have staff working with the Israeli charities Latet and Ezrat Avot to pack and deliver food boxes to the front doors of hundreds of Israeli senior citizens who must remain in their homes to avoid the virus.
“We are working within the rules set by the Health Ministry to help Israelis as much as we can in this troubling time confronting the whole world,” said Dr. Bühler. “We know it is in difficult moments like these when our efforts to bless and comfort Israel count the most.”
