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How Olim Are Helping Israel’s War Effort, Part 2: A War Room Providing Soldiers With Critical Supplies
Friends in Jaffa co-founder Raphael Danan (right) and volunteer Jacob Herriots with IDF soldiers who had put in a request for a small refrigerator for medical supplies for their trauma unit. Photo courtesy of Friends in Jaffa.
Since the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre, immigrants who moved to Israel (olim in Hebrew) have been helping the Jewish state’s war effort in crucial ways beyond the battlefield. The Algemeiner has spoken to several of these individuals — natives of the US, Europe, and elsewhere — gathering their stories of courage and resourcefulness to help Israel prevail over Hamas in Gaza. Over the coming weeks, The Algemeiner will share some of these stories as a new series on how olim are helping Israel’s war effort. To read part one, click here.
On Oct. 8, Raphael Danan, a British-Israeli resident of Jaffa, spoke to a close friend who was one of 300,000 reservists who had been called up a day earlier. The friend ended the call with what seemed like an inconsequential gripe in light of the profound horror that had just taken place. “We don’t have toothpaste or toothbrushes,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier complained.
It prompted Danan to reach out to local WhatsApp groups and start a fundraising drive to procure basic supplies for the soldiers — items like socks and undershirts. The next day, Danan and another volunteer made their first supply run to a base. More than two months later, the volunteer-run group, called Friends in Jaffa (FiJ), is still going strong and, to date, has donated thousands of supplies to soldiers — anything from gloves to tactical gear like tourniquets.
Volunteers either procure the items for free or raise funds for a particular project. In some cases, the supplies themselves come from a particular Jewish community in the US. The Jewish community of Miami, for example, donated 500 military-grade rain suits. But no less important than the suits were the notes to the soldiers written by children in the community. “The soldiers were so, so happy to receive them,” said Amelia Bagnoli, an FiJ volunteer originally from Canada.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren lauded the group’s efforts, saying they were “crucial for our forces in the field.”
“[The soldiers] have great needs, needs for various types of equipment that haven’t been supplied by the IDF, and the Friends in Jaffa are working assiduously night and day to supply those needs,” Oren said.
Itai, a company commander stationed on Israel’s northern border, said FiJ had “entered my heart” because they were as efficient as they were compassionate. According to the 29-year-old, who asked that only his first name be used, the IDF has the resources to supply units with what they need, but the process is often laborious and entangled in bureaucracy.
FiJ, on the other hand, takes a comprehensive inventory of what’s needed and can “find a supplier within an hour and can even get [the items] to us within a day,” he said. “The army cannot compete. It can take a week or more.”
Another IDF soldier, Bar Peleg, also lauded the group for its accuracy in servicing the soldiers’ specific needs. “What we ask for is what we get. This is better than other civilian [groups] who have tried to do this but who don’t do this so well, despite their good intentions.”
Itai — who was a resident of Nachal Oz, one of the Gaza-envelope communities that was hit hard on Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists — added that the supplies sourced by FiJ were of superior quality.
“The [IDF] gear is good enough but it’s not the best. I believe that my soldiers need to get the best and I’m not ashamed to say it,” he said.
Bagnoli explained that proper equipment had the ability to mitigate the “psychological stress” soldiers were under.
“If there’s any way of reducing their stress, even if it’s sleeping on a field bed instead [of the floor] or having dry socks — we were told by commanders that it reduces the chances of PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] later on,” she said.
Danan praised the volunteers’ “incredible fortitude.”
“There is so much determination by the volunteers in doing these missions, but it’s a two-way street. The soldiers’ appreciation creates a really special bond and is more than enough of a reward for us,” he said.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
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