RAMLE, Israel — The top lay and professional leadership of the JCC Movement visited Israel this week for a solidarity mission — one of the largest such trips so far with roughly 40 participants — meeting with survivors of the Oct. 7 attacks, first responders, government officials and leaders of Israeli community centers.
The delegation was made up of JCC Association of North America executives, JCC CEOs and board members from across the country. For all but one, this was their first time in Israel since the Oct. 7 massacres.
“Our mission was originally intended to be a leadership seminar celebrating Israel at 75,” JCC Association CEO Doron Krakow told eJewishPhilanthropy. “After the war started, we recast it as a solidarity mission.”
The five-day mission included meetings with current and former Israeli officials, including President Isaac Herzog; Gadi Yarkoni, mayor of the Gaza-adjacent Eshkol region; former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett; and officials from the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which has been working with the JCC Movement on a variety of projects. The more than 40 participants also met with activists leading the calls for the government to focus its attention primarily on rescuing the hostages.
On Wednesday, eJP joined the delegation when it visited the Magen David Adom Marcus National Blood Services Center in the central Israeli town of Ramle, hearing from paramedics about how the organization responded to the Oct. 7 attacks and how the ongoing war has affected its operations.
During the tour, Aryeh Myers, a paramedic who works in MDA’s international relations department, played for the delegation a recording of a call to an MDA dispatcher on Oct. 7 by a 9-year-old boy from a Gaza border community who was hiding in a closet with his 6-year-old sister after their parents had been murdered and older sister was shot.
The dispatcher directs the boy to cover himself and his sister with clothes, to keep as quiet as possible and to put their phones on silent but nearby so they can see if they get a phone call from authorities.
“The army has closed off access to the area, but we will get there as soon as we can,” the dispatcher tells the boy, calling him “a world champ” for how he was staying calm.
The brother and sister were rescued, as was their older sister who had been shot. The chilling call left nearly all of the participants in tears
“How do you train a dispatcher for that?” Myers said. “I’ve heard that call probably 36 times so far. I still get goose bumps every time.”
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