After 7 October we helped fund the relocation of 30,000 evacuees to 100 kibbutzim across Israel and supported the provision of educational activities and comprehensive support packages.

With the government’s alarming promotion of right-wing settlements on the Gaza border — and the fact that many evacuees planning to build a life elsewhere in the country —  it is crucial to amplify progressive voices of change in the South.

This year, we are supporting the Kibbutz Movement by:

• Recruiting progressive educators to settle in the Western Negev and shape its next generation.
• Recruiting socially conscious young people to help to rebuild affected communities and the wider region.
• Utilising our expertise in leadership and organisational development to provide each of the affected Kibbutzim with support to run their communities according to their needs.

We are also supporting ‘Hechalutz,’ an organisation that runs a wide range of education and social leadership programmes, with the creation of a new pre-military academy in the Gaza border area.

This academy will house a year-long programme focusing on education, social leadership and learning about the challenges in the Negev, while providing them with the tools needed to lead and inspire change in the region.

Both these initiatives epitomise the New Israel Fund’s core values and ambitions of a democratic, equal and shared society.