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FEDERATION NEWS                                                                    September 2021                                       19A


 Community Havdalah   Is Israel a good citizen of the world?                                                          Robert and Esther Heller
                                                                                                                        CRC
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 beats the summer heat  By David Millstone
           ach  month,  CRConnect  brings
                                                                                                                          In addition  to  providing  intelli-
                                                                                when terrorism strikes
                                              trapped under ruins of a collapsed
           you information to help under-     ically  designed to rescue people     Assisting other countries         gence to prevent terrorist attacks, Isra-
 hats as the leaders of this fun program Estand difficult questions we all   building.  Israel  intelligence  services, Mossad   el has helped other countries in several
 in late July.   face  concerning  Israel  and  antisemi-  ‹   The IDF’s Search and Rescue Unit   and the Military Intelligence Director-  different ways.
 Attendees  broke  into  smaller  af-tism. Modern antisemitism  includes   was quickly on site after a build-  ate, have been instrumental in provid-  ‹   Israel has counterterrorism agree-
 finity  groups  afterwards.  Club  Fed  attacks on Israel and its credibility as   ing collapse  in Nairobi, Kenya,   ing  information  to  other  countries  to   ments  with  various  countries  in-
 members,  who  represented  active  se-a nation among nations. There is fre-  in  2006.  Rescue  workers  walked   prevent terrorist attacks. Here are some   cluding  Egypt.  Israel  has assisted
 niors, got together for “Just Schmooz-quently  misinformation  in  the  press   amid the rubble, and using search   examples:  Egypt  in  fighting  terrorist  groups
 ing.”  Younger  families  joined  with  and propaganda that demonizes Israel   dogs were able to locate both sur-  ‹   In  2016,  ISIS  was  planning  co-  inside  Egyptian  Sinai by using
 MG  Berman,  PJ  Library  Communi-and applies a double standard when ex-  vivors and victims.  One hundred   ordinated  attacks in  Albania,   warplanes and helicopters to carry
 ty  Connector,  and  Priya  amining Israel. That is a form of mod-  soldiers  and  officers  took  part  in   Kosovo and  Macedonia,  includ-  out attacks against ISIS and other
 Weiman-Parikh,  PJ  Chair,  ern antisemitism.  the mission,  including medical     ing an attack  during the Albania-    terrorist groups.
 for  Picnic+Play,  enjoying   This  month’s question  addresses   staff.  The  IDF  also  used  rescue   Israel  World  Cup  soccer  match.   ‹   In  2015,  Israel  provided  intelli-
 books  and  crafts  on  picnic  claims  that  Israel  has no right to ex-  dogs,  and  state-of-the-art  rescue   With  intelligence  provided  by Is-  gence  to  help  France  with  its  in-
 blankets.  ist as a Jewish state and acts without   equipment.                     rael, local authorities were able to   vestigation  of  a  terrorist  attack
 Priya  reflects  back  on  moral compass. Over the next couple   Earthquake relief  arrest and convict the terrorists and   in  Paris  which  left  120  people
 the event and shares, “The  of months, we will look at some of the   Since  it  first  provided  aid  by  helping   prevent the attacks from occurring.  dead. Israel also provided train-
 feeling of being a commu-things Israel does that makes it an ex-  survivors and giving necessary medi-  ‹   In 2017, the Israeli military intelli-  ing to French first responders and
 nity together, in person,  emplar state rather than a pariah. This   cal assistance in the Ionian Islands in   gence unit tipped off its Australian   trauma  experts  on  coping  with
 praying  together  and  hear-month,  we  look  at  ways  Israel  helps   Greece  after  an  earthquake  in  1953,   counterparts to successfully thwart   terror.
 ing the kids running around  other  nations  when  disaster  strikes,   Israel  has  been  a  first  responder  set-  a  plot  by  Lebanese-Australian   ‹   In the United Kingdom, the po-
 was  priceless!  We  were  whether natural or man-made.   ting  up  field  hospitals  and  aid  when   brothers  to  blow  up  a  scheduled   lice have turned to Israel for train-
 so  pleased  with  the  great   Next month we will address what   earthquakes hit in places like Albania,   flight  between  Sydney  and  Abu   ing and help on how to stop “lone
 turnout,  and  amazing  kids’  Israel has done to assist other countries   Armenia, Ecuador, Dominican Repub-  Dhabi.    wolf” terror attacks.
 crafts at Havdalah. Looking  with health crises and how Israel has   lic,  Greece,  Haiti,  India,  Italy,  Japan,   ‹   Intelligence  was  transferred  to   Conclusion
 forward to the next one!”  helped people from around the world   Kashmir, Nepal,  Sri  Lanka  and  Tur-  Turkey to prevent a number of dif-  Israel has been, and is, an exemplar
 This event was so well  when  faced  with  devastating  health   key.  Israel’s  offer  of  aid  to  Iran  and   ferent terrorist attacks. Israel con-  nation  to  the  world.  It  is  there  when
 received,  we  will  be  plan-conditions. We will also address Israel   Iraq  when  those  countries  were  dev-  tinued to provide intelligence even   disaster strikes, and it is there to help
 ning more Havdalah events  as an innovator.  astated by an earthquake in 2017 was     while President Erdogan of Turkey   prevent disaster from striking.
 in the upcoming months.   In answer to the question of wheth-  rebuffed.           was  publicly  berating  Israel  and   For more detailed information and
 For  more  information  er Israel is a good citizen of the world   Just as in 2010, Israel was on the   during the time the two countries   original  source  material,  please  visit
 about community events,  and whether it deserves a place among   scene  after  the  horrific  earthquake  in   had severed diplomatic relations.  the  Federation  website  at  jfedsrq.org/
 visit  jfedsrq.org/events  or  the nations of the world, the answer is   Haiti in August 2021 to distribute re-  ‹   In  2015,  the  Mossad  provided   crconnect.
 contact me at jlisitza@jfed  – absolutely! Let’s look at some of the   lief  items  like  water,  sanitation  and   Great Britain with intelligence that   Any opinions expressed in this article
 srq.org or 941.343.2113.  many reasons:  hygiene equipment,  and to provide        helped foil an effort by Hezbollah   are those of the author and not nec-
        As  the  television  commercial  for   first  aid  and  mental  health  care.  Isra-  to stockpile explosives in London,   essarily those of The Jewish News or
     a prominent insurance company goes,   el’s Foreign Minister tweeted after the   which  was  part  of  a  plan  for  fu-  The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-
     “Like a good neighbor, Israel is there.”   disaster hit,  “Israel stands with Haiti   ture attacks including in Thailand,     Manatee.
     Israel is considered a world leader in   and we will deliver immediate humani-   Cyprus and New York.
     disaster assistance and emergency    tarian support.”
     medical  care.  Israel  is  always  a  first   Other natural disasters
     responder in sending manpower, mate-  In  2017,  Israel  immediately  sent  hu-   “To save one life is to save the
     rial and expertise when disaster strikes.   manitarian  aid  when  mudslides  and
     If local hospitals are overwhelmed or   flooding killed more than 300 people      world entire.” — The Talmud
     out of commission, the Israel Defense   and left 30,000 homeless in Sierra Le-
     Forces (IDF) can have a field hospital   one. Over the years, Israel has provided
     up and operating within 12 hours of ar-  assistance from mudslides, hurricanes,
     rival – a logistical feat unmatched by   tsunamis  and  flooding  to  Colombia,
     other countries. No other country can   Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka,
     dispatch  search-and-rescue  teams  or   Thailand and the United States.
     field hospitals as fast and effectively as   Firefighting
     Israel.                              Israel  has provided  assistance  and
        Let’s take a look at some specific   manpower to fight dangerous fires that
     examples:                            have occurred. Just two months ago, Is-
     Building collapses                   rael dispatched firefighters, firefighting
     Three examples come to mind:         planes and flame-retardant material to
     ‹   Just this year, in response to the   Cyprus to help that country fight what
        Surfside condo collapse in Miami,   was the “worst forest fire” in its history.
        the  IDF sent  its  Search  and  Res-  Israel has also provided firefighters and
        cue Unit to help search for survi-  equipment to help countries around the
 Attendees of all ages enjoyed celebrating Havdalah together  vors  and  the  remains  of  victims.   world deal with large-scale wild fires,
        The unit built a 3-D model of the   including  Australia,  Brazil,  Ethiopia
        condo  which  they  collapsed  so   and the United States.
        they  could  understand  where  the   Israel also joins with its neighbors   This High Holiday season, as we seek spiritual and physical renewal for
        greatest  chance  for  finding  peo-  to  train  in  fighting  fires  and  dealing   ourselves and our loved ones, let us also remember those in Israel who
        ple  would  be.  They  interviewed   with other potential disasters. In 2017,   nurture and renew life every day. Whether it’s treating civilians wounded in
        family members to understand the   Israel hosted civil defense units from    terror and rocket attacks or vaccinating them against Covid-19, no organization
        residents’ habits and be able to rec-  West Bank Palestinian Arabs, Jordan,   in Israel saves more lives than Magen David Adom.
        ognize possessions that might lead   Spain, Italy and France for an exercise
        to  discovery.  Unfortunately,  there   simulating huge fires that might result   Magen David Adom is not government-funded. Its 27,000 volunteer EMTs
        were no survivors to recover from   in regional catastrophes. The exercise   and paramedics and 4,000 full-time professionals rely on support from people
                                                                                     like you for the vehicles, supplies, and equipment they need to perform their
        the  rubble.  However,  the  Israeli   was  designed  to  improve  skills  and   lifesaving work.
        unit either recovered or helped to   share  knowledge  in  cooperative  fire-
        recover 81 of the 97 victims.     fighting  management,  evacuation  of      No gift will help Israel more this coming year. Support Magen David Adom by
     ‹   Israel’s Search  and Rescue  Unit   people, humanitarian  assistance and    donating today at afmda.org/rosh or call 800.626.0046. Shanah tovah.
        was successful in helping to rescue   preservation  of  nature.  The  Boycott,
        78 people from the debris of a large   Divestment  and  Sanctions  movement
        department store that collapsed in   condemned  the  Jordanian  and  Pales-
        Ghana in 2012. The team includ-   tinian cooperation as an unacceptable
        ed  experts  and  equipment  specif-  act of normalization with Israel.                                  afmda.org
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