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The Unlikely Organization Helping Israel’s Children During War
Bartender and survivor of the Nova Festival, May Hayat, takes cover as rocket sirens sound, during her first visit to the scene of the attack, on the one-month anniversary of the attack by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7, near Re’im, Israel, Nov. 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Masa Israeli is not used to working in times of war. During peacetime, the organization brings Israeli students, soldiers, and professional groups around the country for trips to help deepen their Jewish and Israeli identities. However, since the outbreak of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Masa Israeli has shifted its focus in the short term to assisting the young boys and girls currently displaced across the country.
Dror Hamawy, the group’s director of education, told The Algemeiner that the “dramatic situation” in the country pushed the educational nonprofit to act. Normally, Masa Israeli’s trips are six days, and the group will take children on masaot (“journeys” in Hebrew) to showcase the deep Jewish connection to Israel, allowing them to “understand they are a part of the Jewish people,” said Hamawy.
Now the trips are just for one day.
Since the outbreak of the war, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been displaced because their homes were either destroyed or constant targets of rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza and both Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli civilians have been placed in different parts of the country, such as Eilat, the Dead Sea, and the Jerusalem area, mainly in hotels — though some have been fortunate to relocate temporarily in homes of gracious hosts.
Sivan Dinar, who directs Masa Israeli’s summer camp programming, said that children “are stuck in small rooms 24/7,” explaining that these trips finally give them the opportunity to “get out and to speak.”
She said the kids and their parents have been enthusiastic about the programming, and that “it is exactly what they were looking for.”
The trips, fully funded by private donors, are organized in the surrounding area of where the kids are staying and are accompanied by Masa Israeli’s trip facilitators. They go into nature and allow the children to “clear their minds” and calm down from the ongoing war.
As of now, the Israeli government has said that evacuees will have their hotels paid for until the end of year, although it is likely to be extended if the war drags on.
Masa Israeli has already started planning longer trips for the kids, including a “winter camp” that will be five days long and allowing for over-nighting at their facilities.
Hamawy said the children who participated have been “very sweet” while dealing with the trauma of the war in their own ways. The trips leave in 15-20 person groups and are back for dinner time.
Part of the trip allows the children to “speak about what happens and to process it,” according to Dinar. Given that the children range from very young to near the end of high school, how they speak about Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre and the subsequent war takes different forms. All in all though, she said “nature calms them.”
Masa Israeli wants to continue its work as long as is needed to support the evacuees and the survivors of Hamas’ brutal attack. Their work, though tough, has been necessary and important, organizers argued.
“We are doing something unique for them,” said Hamawy.
Troy O. Fritzhand, who goes by Osher in Hebrew, is a Jerusalem-based journalist covering Israeli politics, culture, and technology. An immigrant from New York, Troy is an entrepreneur and Hebrew thinker who helps oversee the start-up ecosystem in Jerusalem with Made in JLM. You can learn more about him at troyfritzhand.com. He previously served as the Politics and Knesset reporter at The Jerusalem Post and has been published in Jewish News Syndicate (JNS).
The post The Unlikely Organization Helping Israel’s Children During War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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FBI Investigating ‘Targeted Terror Attack’ in Boulder, Colorado, Director Says
FILE PHOTO: FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Trump’s proposed budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Sunday the agency was aware of and fully investigating a targeted terror attack in Boulder, Colorado.
While he did not provide further details, Patel said in a social media post: “Our agents and local law enforcement are on the scene already, and we will share updates as more information becomes available.”
According to CBS News, which cited witnesses at the scene, a suspect attacked people with Molotov cocktails who were participating in a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza.
The Boulder Police Department said it was responding to a report of an attack in the city involving several victims. It has not released further details but a press conference was expected at 4 p.m. Mountain Time (2200 GMT).
The attack comes just weeks after a Chicago-born man was arrested in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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