Israeli high-tech entrepreneurs are banding together to raise funds to fill critical gaps in trauma care for the children who lost parents to terrorism.
(Courtesy of ICF) The Israeli Children’s Fund (ICF) has announced the launch of their campaign to provide consistent financial and psychological support to children who lost one or both parents from the October 7 terrorist attack. The fund aims to raise $100 million. A group of 34 seasoned high-tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists from Israel are coordinating efforts among the tech ecosystem inside the country and abroad to create this support infrastructure in the wake of the mass trauma.
This voluntary initiative is focused on providing immediate and long-term financial assistance to create a comprehensive support system for the children, from infants to young adults, who experienced severe trauma from having been orphaned as a consequence of the unprecedented in scale Hamas attack. The recent attacks have the added risk of overwhelming psychological care networks, in addition to financial resources, as the care infrastructure inside the country is not built to support such large numbers of victims.
“The survivors of the attack on October 7 experienced cruel and severe violence inside their homes and were subjected to multifaceted interpersonal trauma,” said Dr. Noga Tsur, senior faculty member at the School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University. “While the malevolent, long-lasting repercussions of trauma are extensively acknowledged in research and practice, these children witnessed their parents being tortured, kidnapped or killed, the horrors of which created a ‘new’ category of developmental trauma, one which we have neither encountered, nor treated previously.”
As the country attempts to cope with the staggering number of children suffering, both psychologically and financially, the ICF will be working alongside the state and local communities, as well as NGOs, to coordinate efforts and fill in the gaps of essential resources as these children transition to foster care, adoptive homes, legal guardians, or single-parent households. Under typical circumstances, registering individuals into the national social support network can take upwards of one to two years, so assisting state efforts first by fulfilling the current financial needs of the guardian families, and transitioning to long term support that other organizations are unable to provide) is critical to ensure that the individuals affected are provided with ongoing care and assistance.
“The aftermath of the horrific reality of the attacks has left many people working tirelessly to relocate and provide assistance to those who suffered from the most widespread severely traumatic event in our country’s history,” said Amit Rosenzweig, CEO of Ottopia and a key figure of the fund. “These children represent our collective future, and we are committed to doing everything in our power, not just today, but throughout their lives to help them overcome this loss and thrive.”
To donate to the ongoing care of the children affected by the tragic loss of a parent to terror, or for more information, please visit www.israelichildrensfund.org
