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American Jews Raised $1 Billion for Israel in First Month of Hamas War, Researchers Find
Jewish Americans and supporters of Israel gather at the National Mall in Washington, DC on Nov. 14, 2023 for the “March for Israel” rally. Photo: Dion J. Pierre/The Algemeiner
Jews in North America raised approximately $1 billion for Israel in the first month of its war with the Hamas terror group, according to a new study.
The report, published in Hebrew by scholars at Haifa University’s Ruderman Program for American Jewish Studies, detailed the “immense scale of American Jewry’s activities during the first month of the war.”
According to the study, the Jewish Federations of North America — one of the largest Jewish and pro-Israel charity networks in the world — raised more than $600 million alone in the war’s first weeks.
The amount raised by the Jewish Federations of North America almost double what was raised during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, when the organization received and contributed $360 million to the war effort.
The $602 million raised by the federations far exceeded their $500 million goal, which they announced at the start of the fundraising campaign immediately after Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 people, mostly civilians, across southern Israel and kidnapped 240 others as hostages.
The additional $400 million outlined in this week’s report is an estimation of donations raised in multiple campaigns by other Jewish-affiliated organizations. This money was donated to various sources such as Magen David Adom, Israel’s first responder service, as well as other hospitals and groups supporting Israel.
The report — titled “Standing Together: American Jewry and Israel in the First Month of the War,” said it was “based on data from leading American Jewish organizations, along with interviews, testimonies, and public statements from community leaders, federation heads, rabbis, volunteers, and ordinary citizens.”
The donations also included “many tons of supplies ranging from hygiene products and heating equipment for soldiers to toys for displaced children.” Such items featured prominently early in the war as there were fears of shortages of essential gear for soldiers, as well as to assist with the hundreds of thousands of evacuees from their homes in the north and south of Israel.
Beyond money and other donations, the American Jewish community has shown support for the Jewish state in other ways since the outbreak of the war on Oct. 7.
Last month, for example, hundreds of thousands of Jewish Americans and pro-Israel advocates packed the National Mall in Washington, DC to demand the release of hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza and to demonstrate support for both the Jewish state and the Jewish community amid a global surge in antisemitism that has followed the Palestinian terror group’s Oct 7. Massacre.
The rally was both the largest ever pro-Israel gathering and the largest Jewish gathering in US history.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip
Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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