Israeli foreign aid relates to the development assistance and humanitarian aid provided by Israel to foreign countries. Israel provides assistance to developing countries to alleviate and solve economic and social problems through its international cooperation program of technical assistance, based on its own recent and ongoing experience in developing human and material resources. Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, established as an agency of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1958 and known by its Hebrew acronym, MASHAV, is the primary vehicle for providing this aid.[1]

In the 1970s, Israel broadened its aid agenda by granting safe haven to refugees and foreign nationals in distress from around the world. Since the 1980s, Israel has also provided humanitarian aid to places affected by natural disasters and terrorist attacks. In 1995, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Israel Defense Forces established a permanent humanitarian and emergency aid unit, which has carried out humanitarian operations worldwide. In addition to providing humanitarian supplies, Israel has also sent rescue teams and medical personnel and set up mobile field hospitals in disaster-stricken areas worldwide.[2]

Non-government Israeli humanitarian aid organizations, such as IsraAid (The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid), Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team (FIRST), Israeli Flying Aid (IFA), ZAKA, Save a Child's Heart (SACH) and Latet (Hebrew for "to give") provide various types of aid in foreign countries, complementing or in coordination with the official government aid. They provide humanitarian aid such as search and rescue teams to disaster zones, life saving aid to people affected by natural or man-made disasters, medical aid, disease prevention, urgent pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from developing countries, and food aid.[3]

Since the inception of its foreign aid programs, the Israel Foreign Ministry reports that as of 2020, Israel has provided international humanitarian aid to over 140 countries or territories, including states with no diplomatic relations with Israel.[2]

History

Israel has provided humanitarian assistance to developing countries in Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, and Central Europe through the activities of Mashav,[4] the Israeli Center for International Cooperation, created in 1958, with the goal to give developing countries the knowledge, tools, and expertise that Israel gained in its own development, and its ability to "make the desert flourish". This center trains course participants from approximately 140 countries on healthcare, as well as emergency and disaster medicine, and has participated in dozens of projects worldwide in fields economic fields such as agriculture, education, development, employment, and healthcare, as well as humanitarian fields such as disaster relief, reconstruction, and refugee absorption.[5]

Israel's humanitarian efforts officially began in 1957, with the establishment of Mashav, the Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation.[6]

There are additional Israeli humanitarian and emergency response groups that work with the Israel government, including IsraAid, a joint programme run by 14 Israeli organizations and North American Jewish groups,[7] ZAKA,[8] The Fast Israeli Rescue and Search Team (FIRST),[9] Israeli Flying Aid (IFA),[10] Save a Child's Heart (SACH)[11] and Latet.[12]

In the 1970s, Israel broadened its aid agenda by granting safe haven to refugees and foreign nationals in distress from around the world. Since the 1980s, Israel has also provided humanitarian aid to places affected by natural disasters and terrorist attacks. In 1995, the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Israel Defense Forces established a permanent humanitarian and emergency aid unit, which has carried out humanitarian operations worldwide.[13] As well as providing humanitarian supplies, Israel has also sent rescue teams and medical personnel and set up field hospitals in disaster-stricken areas worldwide.

Between 1985 and 2015, Israel sent 24 delegations of IDF search and rescue unit, the Home Front Command, to 22 countries.[14] In Haiti, immediately following the 2010 earthquake, Israel was the first country to set up a field hospital capable of performing surgical operations.[15] Israel sent over 200 medical doctors and personnel to start treating injured Haitians at the scene.[16] At the conclusion of its humanitarian mission 11 days later,[17] the Israeli delegation had treated more than 1,110 patients, conducted 319 successful surgeries, delivered 16 births and rescued or assisted in the rescue of four individuals.[18][19] Despite radiation concerns, Israel was one of the first countries to send a medical delegation to Japan following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.[20] Israel dispatched a medical team to the tsunami-stricken city of Kurihara in 2011. A medical clinic run by an IDF team of some 50 members featured pediatric, surgical, maternity and gynecological, and otolaryngology wards, together with an optometry department, a laboratory, a pharmacy and an intensive care unit. After treating 200 patients in two weeks, the departing emergency team donated its equipment to the Japanese.[21]

On March 22, 2022, Israel opened a 66-bed field hospital[22] inside Ukraine to treat Ukrainians injured during the current war with Russia. The hospital, located in the western Ukrainian city of Mostyska, is called “Shining Star,” and is staffed by more than 60 personnel from Israel. The hospital is being operated by Israel’s Health Ministry, Sheba Medical Center, the Clalit HMO and medical teams from other hospitals.

Israel on the frontline of international aid

Although being a small country,[23] Israel has a long-standing tradition of coordinating relief efforts to alleviate disease, hunger, and poverty all over the world.

Among the well-known crises that Israel provides humanitarian aid for are:

  • Turkey and Syria - Following the earthquake in 2023
  • Syria - Israeli humanitarian operations during the Syrian Civil War
  • Japan - Following the earthquake and tsunami in 2011
  • Haiti - Following the severe earthquake in January 2010
  • Sri Lanka - Following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in 2005

See also

References

  1. ↑ Benad, Avital (2007). "International Aid and Cooperation". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 10 (2nd th ed.). Keter Publishing House Ltd. pp. 179–282.
  2. 1 2 "Israeli Humanitarian Relief: Mashav - Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  3. ↑ "Israel on the Frontline of International Aid". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  4. ↑ The Israeli Government's Official Website, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archived 3 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ see Dayan Yoni, Le Mashav – Centre de Coopération International Israélien, 118 p., 2006, available in Irice center for international studies in Paris 1 University and soon in Internet
  6. ↑ "About MASHAV". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Haim Yacobi, Israel and Africa: A Genealogy of Moral Geography, Routledge, 2015 p.113.
  8. ↑ Ban, Ki-moon (1 December 2016). "Secretary-General's remarks at reception in honour of ZAKA International Rescue Unit [as prepared for delivery]". United Nations. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Ueriel Hellman,"Israeli aid effort helps Haitians – and Israel's image", Jewish Telegraphic Agency 19 January 2010
  10. ↑ "Israel's 'superwoman' takes flight to help others – ISRAEL21c". Israel21c. 12 March 2006.
  11. ↑ "Wolfson cardiac surgeons save lives of more Gazan children". The Jerusalem Post - JPost.com.
  12. ↑ "Earthquake in Haiti – Latet Organization deploys for immediate relief to victims". ReliefWeb.
  13. ↑ Israeli Humanitarian Relief Operations – Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archived 17 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "When catastrophe strikes the IDF is there to help". Israel Today. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Benhorin, Yitzhak (18 January 2010). "Praise for Israeli mission in Haiti: 'Only ones operating'". Ynet. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  16. ↑ "International Aid to Haiti: Who's Giving". Cbsnews.com. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  17. ↑ Marcy Oster, Israeli delegation leaves Haiti Jewish Telegraphic Agency 27 January 2010.
  18. ↑ "Heart surgery for Haitian child". Israel21c. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "IDF team returns from Haiti". The canadian Jewish news. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Israeli aid delegation leaves for Japan". Ynetnews. 26 March 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  21. ↑ Kinue Tokudome, 'Promise fulfilled Israelìs Medical Team in Japan,' The Jerusalem Post 18 April 2015.
  22. ↑ Barak, Naama (2022-03-22). "Israel opens humanitarian field hospital in war-torn Ukraine". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  23. ↑ "Israel | Facts, History, Population, & Map | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-10-23. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
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