The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) is winding down its two-year Israel Emergency Campaign, which raised $908 million for Israelis under fire, and is shifting to a new long-term recovery framework branded “Rebuild Israel,” aimed at helping the country recover and flourish after the October 7 massacre and the subsequent wars in Gaza and with Iran.
Details of the Rebuild Israel initiative will be formally unveiled at JFNA’s 2025 General Assembly, which is scheduled to take place in Washington, DC, from November 16 to 18. Thousands of Jewish leaders from across North America and Israel are expected to attend the gathering, which will focus heavily on Israel’s postwar rebuilding and the evolving relationship between Israel and Diaspora communities.
The Israel Emergency Campaign was launched on October 8, 2023, the day after Hamas terrorists attacked, brutalized, and murdered Israelis in the South and abducted hostages to Gaza. Within weeks, JFNA surpassed its initial goal of $ 500 million, channeling funds to cover immediate lifeline needs, including medical supplies, humanitarian aid, and emergency medical care.
“When we launched the Israel Emergency Campaign on October 8, we knew that only the Jewish Federations system could mobilize the resources we needed to support Israel, but we had no conception of the unbelievable extent to which the effort to support Israelis in their darkest hour would develop,” JFNA president and CEO Eric D. Fingerhut said in the announcement.
“As Israel begins to turn the page and its needs transition from emergency to rebuilding, it is time for the 141 Federations in our system to prioritize and further our efforts to Rebuild Israel,” he added.
JFNA provides support to 208 Israeli communities
According to JFNA’s figures, the unprecedented campaign raised $908 million and provided support through more than 4,200 grants to 877 NGO partners, reaching 208 communities across Israel. The funds were used for immediate lifeline services, medical trauma care and relief, economic recovery, community resilience, and rebuilding projects.
JFNA chair Gary Torgow described the response of North American Jews as “remarkable” and framed the next phase as part of a historic pattern of support. “As we look to the future, we are proud that, as we have done throughout our history, the Jewish Federations system will once again play a pivotal role in helping Israel continue strengthening itself as a bastion of flourishing Jewish life,” he said.
Over the course of the campaign, federations leveraged long-standing partnerships on the ground and decades of experience in responding to crises. Funds helped provide food, shelter, and other basic necessities to Israelis displaced from their homes, supplied hospitals, ambulances, and emergency response units with medical equipment, and offered economic relief to businesses and families whose livelihoods were disrupted by the fighting. At the same time, significant resources were directed toward trauma care and community resilience, particularly for areas hardest hit by rocket fire and evacuations.
JFNA stressed that particular care was taken to reach populations with specialized needs during the emergency. Support was directed to Arabic, Amharic, and Russian-speaking Israelis, to Bedouin communities, at-risk youth, young children, women, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. Federation leaders said these efforts reflected a commitment to ensuring that assistance reached the full diversity of Israeli society.
The campaign relied heavily on core partnerships with the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and World ORT, as well as on the deep ties that local federations have built over many years with sister cities and regions in Israel. These relationships, JFNA said, encouraged people-to-people connections and shared initiatives that deepened bonds between North American Jews and Israelis, especially in the period after October 7.
One of the flagship initiatives highlighted by JFNA is the ReGrow program, which supported farming communities in the western Negev. Through ReGrow, federations provided 12.5 million dollars in grants to urgently replace equipment that was destroyed or looted by Hamas terrorists, allowing farmers to resume work in time for the first spring planting season after the October 7 massacre. Federation leaders described the effort as essential for restoring both livelihoods and a sense of normalcy in communities along the Gaza border.
In addition, the Jewish Federations Israel Emergency Loan Fund became a crucial tool for businesses across Israel that were severely impacted by the war and could not access traditional banking credit. Through its investment committee, the Loan Fund allocates money to carefully vetted loan platforms that, in turn, provide loans to small businesses in different sectors and markets, including agriculture. The goal, JFNA said, is to offer a financial lifeline that supports long-term recovery rather than only short-term relief.
The Victims of Terror Fund, housed at the Jewish Agency and supported by federations, distributed more assistance in the two years of war than in its entire 21-year history before the conflict, underscoring the scale and intensity of the current crisis. The fund provides direct support to victims of terror attacks and their families, helping them cope with immediate needs and long-term rehabilitation.
While the original emergency campaign was launched in response to the war in Gaza, JFNA noted that needs surged again when war broke out with Iran in the summer of 2025. Federations allocated an additional 13 million dollars through 24 partner organizations to address renewed lifeline needs, including assistance for communities under fire and services affected by attacks from Iran.
These new allocations are being integrated into the broader Rebuild Israel framework. JFNA describes this next phase as a holistic effort to support Israel’s recovery and to help Israelis and Israeli society flourish in the aftermath of war. The focus is expected to include long-term trauma treatment, continued support for displaced families and communities in the South and North, the strengthening of local economies and small businesses, and investments in education and identity-building programs that reinforce a resilient civil society and deepen ties between Israel and the North American Jewish community.
“The Jewish people’s commitment to supporting Israel has never been stronger,” National Campaign Chair David Heller said. “With this historic campaign, we have written the latest chapter in the history of our people and look forward to writing the next one as we work to further strengthen Israel and its unbreakable bonds with the North American Jewish community.”
The 2025 General Assembly in Washington is expected to serve as the formal launchpad for Rebuild Israel. Plenary sessions and discussions will focus on Israel’s recovery from war, Jewish security worldwide, the fight against rising antisemitism, and the role of North American Jewry in supporting a stronger and more resilient Israel in the years ahead.