MAZON Makes Emergency Grants to Address Food Insecurity in Israel

October 19, 2023

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Today, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger made an emergency investment totaling $100,000 to support marginalized communities facing food insecurity in Israel. Abby J. Leibman, MAZON’s President & CEO, said:

“Amid horror and heartbreak, we remain deeply concerned about food insecurity in Israel and the region. We are incredibly proud of our many longtime partners who are pushing through their own grief, pain, and fear to provide life-saving support to those facing hunger. During times of crisis and war, people already facing hunger and poverty become even more vulnerable, so we have made four emergency assistance grants of $25,000 each to our partners who are under-resourced and responding to some of the most dire food needs in Israel. The grantee partners are: Itach Ma’aki, Negev Coexistence Forum, Sidreh, and ASSAF — all of which support underserved populations including Bedouins in unrecognized villages and asylum seekers in Israel. These populations were struggling to begin with, and now they face mounting challenges without access to even emergency food.”

“People from all walks of life are grief-stricken and afraid. Food prices in Israel are skyrocketing. Many Israeli service industry workers are going without income. Food systems are disrupted. We know the need for food assistance will grow as the war goes on, and we also know that the most meaningful, lasting solutions to hunger in Israel and the region will come from the Israeli government itself. It is essential that the Israeli government follow through on its responsibility to deliver equitable food assistance to those in Israel who are struggling, including those who are vulnerable and often forgotten. Because all people were created b’tselem Elohim, in the image of God, which means that no one should go hungry. No one.”

Since its founding nearly 40 years ago, MAZON has been working to address hunger in Israel by advancing responsive, long-term government policies. It leads an anti-hunger policy coalition of 16 Israeli organizations to raise awareness, shape public discourse, and create an infrastructure for policy change.

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