Citing “an anxiety in Israel that we need to understand” in the wake of days of missile strikes from Iran, UJA-Federation of New York’s CEO, Eric Goldstein, said the country’s largest federation has authorized $10 million in emergency funding to support a range of needs in Israel.

The grant was authorized in an emergency vote held by UJA-Federation’s board on Sunday, Goldstein told eJewishPhilanthropy. It will aid cities impacted by direct missile fire, strengthen rescue efforts and medical care, deliver food and medicine to those who are unable to evacuate, support mental health and trauma care and support the essential workers and volunteers.

“This is a level of security concern that people, living in Tel Aviv for example, haven’t experienced for the last 20 months. The number of missiles that are getting through, the scenes of real destruction,” Goldstein told eJP. “It’s leading to an anxiety in Israel that we need to understand, which very much relates to why our board turned around and authorized another $10 million in an emergency vote yesterday.” 

He explained that, 20 months after the Hamas attack, the federation’s funding was starting to shift its focus to “chronic needs,” rather than emergency needs. Following the Iranian missile strikes, the organization, and the Jewish community as a whole, is pivoting back to emergency funding.

According to Goldstein, due to the level of emergency UJA-Federation will only be dispensing funds to grantees it has worked with prior to ensure the funds can make an impact quickly. 

“In time, we will have the opportunity to work with new grantees who are doing important work,” said Goldstein. “But for the moment, we’re going back to grantees who we’ve worked with before, who we know have the track record and the ability to get these dollars out very quickly.”

Over the last two years, UJA-Federation has provided $186 million in funding to support Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war. Between the recent crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the federation has learned to pace donations to meet both short- and long-term needs, Goldstein said. 

“Unfortunately, as a broader community, we’ve become very practiced in crisis. There’s nothing linear about this process. We’re now back to a type of more first-stage emergency, which is providing for emergency needs for people who are suddenly again displaced and have needs that they didn’t have on Thursday,” said Goldstein. “But what we’ve seen time and time again is, as these crises grow, so does the community’s inclination to help support and address the need.”