On Sunday morning, February 7, an overflow crowd packed into the Englewood home of Eve and Heshy Feldman to hear representatives of One Israel Fund. Marc Provisor, Director of Security Projects, and Natalie Sopinsky, Director of Community Development, described what life is like on the front lines of terror in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.

Natalie Sopinsky told her story of life in Sussia, and described what it’s like living 12 kilometers from Otniel, the yishuv of Daphna Meir Hy”d, who was recently murdered in her home. Sopinsky nervously proclaimed, “I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing… Dafna Meir, a mother of six, was killed because she was a Jew living in the heartland of Israel…just like me.”

Marc Provisor served for 10 years as civilian security chief (RavShatz) for the Shilo region including the Intifada years. Provisor, a straight-talking counter-terror expert, consults with the IDF in coordinating various efforts on behalf of the people in Judea and Samaria. The Vests 4 Israel Campaign began after Operation Protective Edge when One Israel Fund set out to redesign the armored vests owned by the RavShatzim throughout the country. After that war, it was learned that the current vests were not being worn by the RavShatzim due to their bulkiness and difficulty to wear while driving patrol vehicles in the surveillance of each one’s yishuv. This left those in charge of protecting their communities without their own basic protection. One Israel Fund immediately sprung into action and, through the diligence of Mr. Provisor, sought to redesign a vest tailored specifically to the role of these brave men.

New vests were needed by 300 RavShatzim covering the southern and northern borders as well as the heartland, and One Israel Fund set out to raise the necessary funds to replace them. To date, over 250 vests have been donated at a cost of $1,450 each and the campaign and design was recently adopted by the IDF, which will begin supplying the civilian security team members throughout Judea and Samaria with new vests based upon Provisor’s design. While the IDF plans to begin the campaign in the not-too-distant future, as with all situations throughout Judea and Samaria, One Israel Fund is ready to fill in any gaps not covered by the IDF.

Provisor conducts security assessments throughout Judea and Samaria, recommending technological and practical security upgrades. In his capacity in One Israel Fund, he speaks throughout the country to raise awareness, educate the masses and raise vitally needed funds to fulfill security and emergency medical projects. Some of the security projects include perimeter surveillance camera systems, thermal cameras (which can detect movement beyond a perimeter fence), emergency lighting and emergency medical equipment for intensive-care ambulances.

One Israel Fund also works to fund communal projects large and small including schools and academic institutions, libraries, playgrounds and religious institutions which add greatly to the quality of life in these communities. The 400,000 Israeli citizens living throughout Judea and Samaria are the vanguard of the security and sovereignty of the Jewish State.

Sopinsky remarked that despite the hardships of this current wave of terror, “we move forward…there is only one Jewish state and it is ours. We need to take care of it, and of each other.”

For more information, to get involved with One Israel Fund, to schedule a tour these areas or to invite a representative of One Israel Fund to your community, contact Natalie Sopinsky, Director of Community Development for One Israel Fund, at [email protected] or call 516.239.9202 x22.

One Israel Fund is dedicated to supporting the welfare and safety of the men, women and children of Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the re-emerging communities of Gaza evacuees. These nearly 400,000 citizens of Israel are the vanguard of Israel’s security and sovereignty as a Jewish state.

Recognized as a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, One Israel Fund is the premier organization in the United States providing support for these areas. Working in concert with communities, government officials and the IDF, One Israel Fund fills the gaps in medical, social welfare, recreational and preventive security services which are conspicuously lacking in these areas as well as locations throughout the State of Israel.

Helping to make available a broad spectrum of communal needs, One Israel Fund is a recognized 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization, ID# 11-3195338