Israel Defense Ministry | Update on Reconstruction Progress in Southern Israel

Destruction caused by rocket fire in southern Israel. Photo courtesy of Marc Israel Sellem of the Jerusalem Post. 

On Tuesday, March 10, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced that 34 day care centers in southern communities in close proximity to the Gaza strip have been renovated, repaired, and in some cases, rebuilt. According to a Jerusalem Post article, the Ministry expects to finish construction on 30 more day care centers and classrooms in the region in the coming weeks. Since the war, the Defense Ministry has also been hard at work assembling over 400 temporary shelters and 25 safe rooms in the south.

The estimated cost of restoring the day care centers is more than $74 million U.S. dollars, and is currently underway in nine southern communities that were hit heavily by thousands of rockets and mortar fire during Operation Protective Edge this past summer, including San Diego’s sister city— Sha’ar HaNegev.

The Defense Minister stated that the day care centers that received fortifications include the “Savyon” daycare, which four-year-old Daniel Tragerman attended. Tragerman, the youngest Israeli victim of the war, was killed on August 22nd, 2014 when a mortar struck a car outside his family’s house while he and his family were rushing for cover inside. The family was gathering their belongings to flee the kibbutz when it happened.

Of the $3.4 million dollars the San Diego Jewish community raised this past summer during Federation’s emergency “Reach Out For Israel” campaign, over $200,000 was allocated towards respite, repair, and reconstruction efforts in Sha’ar HaNegev. Your generosity and continued support is going towards a world of good and is bettering the lives of our brothers and sisters in Israel.

Thank you for all that you do!

Click here to read the full article published by Ben Hartman of the Jerusalem Post on March 10, 2015.