TL;DR: In the wake of the recent emergency sparked by hostilities with Iran, Israeli civil society is stepping up. Non-profits affiliated with the AMITIM mentoring program are delivering life-saving services across the country—demonstrating how compassion, speed, and leadership can change lives in a time of war.
Background: NGOs on the Frontline of Humanitarian Response
The CEOs of 22 Israeli non-profit organizations, all mentees in the AMITIM leadership mentoring program, are leading bold, urgent responses to a growing humanitarian crisis. With families displaced, communities under attack, and shelters overcrowded, these NGOs are filling critical gaps in aid and services for the country’s most vulnerable. “Our mission has taken on a new and urgent meaning: survival and stability.” — House of Wheels
Pitchon Lev: Feeding and Equipping a Nation in Need
As one of Israel’s foremost humanitarian aid organizations, Pitchon Lev has mobilized rapidly and on a national scale to meet the skyrocketing needs of vulnerable civilians:
- Food security: Distributing thousands of nutritionally balanced food parcels.
- Essential supplies: Clothing, baby formula, hygiene kits, diapers, blankets, and small appliances.
- Shelter support kits: Generators, chemical toilets, hygiene products, games for children, mattresses, and more.
- Welfare navigation: In-person and virtual guidance for accessing social security benefits.
“From hot meals to hygiene kits, we are standing with every Israeli who needs us right now.”
Dream Doctors: Healing with Humor in the Darkest Places
While soldiers stand guard at the nation’s borders, Dream Doctors are stationed inside hospitals, delivering emotional healing under the most challenging conditions. Whether above ground or in underground emergency wards, their professional therapeutic clowning helps patients, especially children, process trauma and fear. “We are the emotional front line.”
EITAN – Everybody Can!: Disability-Inclusive Emergency Education
EITAN has launched a free online Zoom training program tailored to individuals with special needs, ensuring continued growth and connection even during national lockdowns and threats. “Empowerment doesn’t pause for emergencies.”
ELAH: Free Trauma Counselling for Those the System Overlooks
Since October 7 and now again during Operation Rising Lion, ELAH has offered free trauma therapy for people affected by war and terror—especially those outside the reach of formal government services. They serve:
- Families of hostages and fallen soldiers
- Returning reservists and their partners
- Displaced individuals and communities
- Nova Festival survivors and grieving families
“Healing starts with listening, and we’re here to listen to everyone.”
House of Wheels: Creating Shelter for Those Who Cannot Run
For people with severe physical disabilities, sirens don’t mean “run”—they mean depend on someone else for survival. House of Wheels has responded with:
- Emergency accessible shelters in Bustan HaGalil, Herzliya, and Kibbutz Urim
- Home visits with emotional and medical support
- Virtual emotional support hubs open 24/7 for isolated families
“Imagine needing 90 seconds to reach shelter—and being unable to move yourself.”
Turning the Tables: Protecting Women from Falling Back into Crisis
Serving women on the continuum of prostitution and exploitation, Turning the Tables established a virtual assistance center just hours after the crisis escalated. Their three-part response:
- Immediate outreach to every woman in the program.
- Material aid, including home-delivered food packages.
- Creative online workshops and group support to combat isolation and anxiety.
“These women have rebuilt their lives once. We won’t let war tear that down.”
In Their Own Words
“I don’t know how we would have gotten through the week without the food and phone calls.”
— Evacuee, North Israel
“The Dream Doctors made my son smile for the first time since we left home.”
— Mother of a hospitalized child
“ELAH helped me cry for the first time. Then they helped me stop crying.”
— Bereaved grandparent
Solidarity, Speed, and Hope: The AMITIM Spirit
With the help of the AMITIM program, these non-profit leaders have cultivated not only strategic thinking but a deep commitment to community resilience. In this national emergency, their leadership is not just organizational—it is transformational. “These NGOs are more than service providers—they are Israel’s safety net, woven together with care, courage, and compassion.”
The war with Iran may be officially over, but the battles rage on to heal, to repair, to rebuild, to comfort the thousands that have lost their homes and to deal with the unfinished business of Gaza, returning the hostages and the deep reckoning that will take place in Israel in the coming months. AMITIM’s mentee non-profit organisations will continue to be there throughout these processes and do whatever is necessary to support the vulnerable and repair the damages, human and physical.
Shabbat shalom, wishing for the safety of all those in Israel and may this be the week the hostages return home,
Michael Weil
Founding Director, AMITIM
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