Following more than twenty-one months of displacement, and with war actively ongoing in Gaza, the residents of Gaza border communities have been granted official permission to return to their homes, joining northern Israel residents who started returning in recent months. The government declared "no security threat" exists for their return, yet a crucial question emerges about the reality confronting kibbutz residents whose communities remained frozen in time.
"Security and the sense of security are two different things," Neri Shotan, CEO of the Kibbutz Movement Rehabilitation Fund, explained. "When a senior military official arrives and assures northern residents 'everything's fine, this won't recur,' people grow anxious because it happened before. The sense of security isn't measured only at the military level, but at the emotional level. It's a basic need to feel safe – approximately 1,000 Upper Galilee residents are waiting to start mental health treatments. We're also detecting increased substance abuse patterns, particularly among 14-17 year-olds," he revealed this troubling data.
Beyond psychological challenges inherent in returning to former battlegrounds, certain kibbutzim sustained more severe damage requiring comprehensive reconstruction efforts. Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel lost at least 75% of its housing stock, while Nir Oz – what Shotan terms Israel's "ground zero" – saw 93% of homes destroyed, leaving merely six structures intact after October 7. "Two years have passed, yet Nir Oz reconstruction funding remains unapproved," he noted, estimating current costs at approximately 350 million shekels ($98.7 million). He attributes this shortfall not to budgetary constraints, but to misplaced governmental priorities.
"Ultimately, five billion shekels were slashed from the Rebirth Administration [designated] as coalition funding and redirected toward ultra-Orthodox constituencies – this transcends monetary considerations. It's a lack of statesmanship, from returning the hostages to rehabilitating the north. A May 18 Knesset Research and Information Center report identified a 15 billion shekel ($4.2 billion) disparity between projected northern rehabilitation expenses and allocated resources. Only 2.2 billion shekels ($620 million) have been disbursed thus far. Total rehabilitation costs are estimated at 30 billion shekels ($8.5 billion). Authorities simultaneously declare, 'you have to come back, and if you don't, you won't receive the financial assistance for returnees,' while residents face impossible living conditions."
"Tremendous responsibility burdens kibbutz leadership managing evacuated communities requiring reestablishment," Shotan stressed. "While all kibbutzim will return, not all members will. This necessitates supporting both returnees and those selecting alternative residences." An additional consideration involves transitioning from emergency assistance toward rehabilitation, manifesting through educational system adaptations, attracting new families to kibbutzim, implementing psychological recovery programs, and addressing other urgent needs that require immediate attention upon residents' return.
Addressing these shortcomings, Jewish and pro-Israeli philanthropic organizations worldwide stepped into this void, mobilizing assistance from October 7's first hours, with collective contributions reaching nearly one billion dollars. "Honestly speaking, without philanthropy we couldn't have endured," Shotan acknowledged. "We recognized the need for extensive, expensive, time-consuming rehabilitation preparation. At least personally, I understood we were alone. North American associations, organizations, and major federations immediately grasped their essential role and delivered."
The source of this substantial sum does not come from major budgets or solely from wealthy benefactors, but from ordinary people whose hearts are with Israel and who strive to do everything they can, even from thousands of miles away. "What struck me was how alone and isolated Israelis felt," Neil Kochen, a retired investment officer, said. "I feel like it's our responsibility to take care of our family, and whatever small contribution we can make is incredibly important." His contribution to the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford totals $10,000 per year, in addition to $2,000 per year committed directly to Kibbutz Sufah, though he feels it is "not significant enough."
"We feel somewhat powerless in the states, but you are not alone. Anything we can do is an honor," he emphasized.
This support enabled the Kibbutz Movement to provide immediate assistance when governmental responses proved inadequate. "October 7 represented a massive 'black swan event' – it took the state months to comprehend what was going on." Utilizing donated funds, the Movement's rehabilitation fund addressed fundamental necessities, ranging from clothing and laundry facility establishment, civilian evacuation vehicle transport, through complex undertakings including temporary school construction, assistance replacing identity documents for evacuees who left their belongings behind, and arranging burials in central Israel kibbutzim after Gaza border burial sites became unreachable.
Shotan contrasts diaspora organizations' rapid responses with what he characterizes as "governmental failure" regarding citizen welfare. Despite official northern rehabilitation approvals, he maintains that crucial initiatives remain dependent on philanthropic backing, whether due to governmental bureaucracy and budgetary shortfalls or program necessities that lack official recognition. The Movement's primary efforts concentrate on informal educational frameworks tailored to current circumstances, community resilience development with individualized family support for trauma victims, senior citizen post-trauma research, agricultural rehabilitation programming incorporating post-military youth in northern and southern kibbutzim, and memorial projects that collect WhatsApp messages from the day of the massacre and plan memorial sites.
"We co-fund therapeutic dogs for Gaza border children," Shotan described one initiative. "A day after approving this project, I met at the Knesset a sister of a hostage who was murdered in captivity. She inquired, 'Are you involved with therapeutic dogs?' and offered her husband's brother as a contact. His family spent 48 hours in their safe room. They survived, but many relatives were killed. During evacuation, they discovered their family dog shot on the lawn, creating severe trauma for their children. Within a week, I received a photo of them with their new puppy from the same program – it transforms lives. This exemplifies small yet enormous impacts."
While philanthropic contributions and diaspora Jewish plus pro-Israeli community commitments remain unquestionable, this assistance has boundaries. "We observe declining financial transfers, understandably after two years of conflict," Shotan noted. "Philanthropy is an additional layer on top of the state. They provide substantial funding – yet it's insufficient," he emphasized. After months of arguments over budget approvals for the south and north, followed by years of implementation, the question is: when will philanthropic donors hit their limit, and what happens to residents then?
Contributing organizations include the Samueli Foundation, Jewish Federations of North America and United Israel Appeal, Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Jewish National Fund-USA, American Jewish Committee, Qualcomm Foundation, and New Israel Fund.
