Israeli leaders in global high-tech have teamed up on a voluntary initiative to ensure the smooth flow of aid to those in need during the country’s war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza. And they even created a new AI platform to do it.
Lev Echad (One Heart) was the initiative of two Israeli tech companies with international reach: Fiverr, a global online marketplace for freelancers, and HiBob, the creator of human resources software used worldwide.
The voluntary initiative is based at Fiverr’s headquarters in central Tel Aviv, and, one of the project managers tells NoCamels, it is working to meet any kind of needs that may arise during the conflict.
“We are trying to manage any aspect of demands or requirements that are coming from the public,” says Dan Lallouz.
To Lev Echad, he explains, the public includes both civilians and members of the military. And these needs could be anything from transportation and accommodation to medical and food supplies. Any requests that Lev Echad cannot meet are passed onto the relevant bodies who can.
Its recipients include residents of southern Israel forced from their homes after Hamas terrorists rampaged across the border from Gaza, attacking nearby Israeli communities and killing more than 1,400 people. These communities sustained massive damage during these attacks and the survivors are now in temporary accommodation in various parts of the country, sponsored by the project.
Lev Echad’s resource management is handled using the bespoke platform built using technology donated by monday.com, a NASDAQ-listed project management software company also based in Tel Aviv.
“We built this workflow to facilitate all kinds of needs, with several kinds of workflows that will assist us to mitigate all those needs,” Lallouz says.
The “very detailed” platform was speedily constructed, he adds, once war broke out and it became clear that people around the country needed help. And so far, it is working very well.
“It’s a very complex kind of software that was built in four to five days,” he explains. “So we’re kind of proud of it.”
The platform uses artificial intelligence to streamline the process of getting aid to those in need. The software scans the thousands of requests Lev Echad receives each day to put together those that can be addressed simultaneously.
“We’re dealing with matching the tasks and needs through the software itself in order not not to waste time and work,” Lallouz says. “We’re trying to make the software very easy to use, but clever.”
He cites the example of requests for transportation from several IDF soldiers who are traveling in approximately the same area. The system, he explains, will find those requests and group them together so that they can all be transported to where they need to go with only one car.
Lev Echad assigns each request or matched bundle of requests to one of its volunteers, who then handles the task either from the project’s existing resources or purchases anything that is not already available.
And while the project may be headquartered in Tel Aviv, it already has more than 22 locations across the country and more than 30,000 volunteers working to help those in need. It has also opened an office in New York, which is handling donations from outside of Israel.
The project was initially funded solely by Fiverr, HiBob and monday.com, in order to get the initiative off the ground. Since then, donations began to come in from everyday Israelis across the country. Every shekel, Lallouz says, goes to those in need while the companies meet the costs of running the operation and the volunteers all give their time for free.
The initiative is not working with any government bodies in a direct way but hopes that will change as the country moves to a more efficient war footing so that those institutions can help tackle the more demanding requests Lev Echad receives.
Anyone wishing to help the project either by donating their time or money can reach out to Lev Echad via its website.
“We’re comfortable,” Lallouz says of their resource management, “but every day we need more.”
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