Six months after Hamas terrorists rampaged through swathes of southern Israel on October 7, efforts are underway at home and abroad to restore the lush greenery and tranquil calm of the primarily agricultural Western Negev.
The farming communities in the region are responsible for the production of numerous food staples in Israel, among them potatoes, tomatoes and dairy.
Home-Grown Efforts
At the forefront of the rehabilitation efforts is Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) – named for Israel’s first prime minister David Ben-Gurion, and the largest employer in the southern Israeli desert that he loved so much.
“BGU is key to the economic vitality of southern Israel and will play a pivotal role in rebuilding the Negev and propelling it forward,” the university said recently as it announced the billion-dollar Way Forward campaign to rehabilitate the South.
The campaign was launched by Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU), and more than $380 million of the sum has already been raised.
“On October 7, BGU’s community was disproportionately affected by the attacks. In the days that followed, the university began demonstrating just how vital it is to the remarkable resilience of the entire nation,” said A4BGU CEO Doug Seserman.
“Diaspora supporters are rallying around Israel’s essential efforts to rebuild the south,” he said.
The donations have come from around the world, including a $100 million gift from Canadian-Israeli billionaire philanthropist Sylvan Adams.
“I wanted to do something ‘wow’ in the South,” Adams told the i24 news channel of his donation.
“If we’re going to have people living in the South they need employment, and Ben-Gurion is really doing such amazing work. And so I decided I’m going to invest in the motor, in the engine that’s going to drive resettlement and rebuilding of our South – bigger, better, more populous and stronger – and tell our enemies, tell everyone around the world that we are here to stay.”
Rebuilding the innovation scene, an incubator center in the Sha’ar HaNegev region of the Negev has returned to full operations in Kibbutz Nir Am, one of the few communities whose civil guard managed to repel the terrorists invading from Gaza.
Created in 2017 to advance the tech sector in the Gaza border area, the SouthUp incubator has announced the addition of four new startups to its existing group of 27, bringing new medtech and agritech developments.
The incubator has also created a new investment fund to promote tech companies operating from the Western Negev, with SouthUp CEO Gil Shwarsman hailing the “very impressive” response from public and private investment bodies.
“After a freeze of almost six months, we see the beginnings of recovery in the area with interest from investors who understand the need to combine investment in start-ups with profit potential along with real Zionism vision assistance to the rebirth of the surrounding area,” Shwarsman said.
“This is the real answer to bringing it back to being prosperous and flourishing.”
Friends From Abroad
Not to be outdone, members of the New York tech sector recently arrived in Israel for more hands-on help. They joined members of Kibbutz Be’eri as they rebuilt their homes after the attacks that killed more than 100 people from the community and another 29 were taken hostage.
The US group comprised young startup creators, R&D experts, business managers from companies such as Linkedin and Meta and even investment giant BlackRock.
They joined construction projects on the kibbutz, building, plastering and painting alongside members of the farming village. Their main project, however, was building an entirely new meeting place for the Be’eri members when they return home from their temporary residences in Tel Aviv.
The week-long effort was the result of a close connection between the New Yorkers and the Be’eri community created during a fundraising trip by the latter in the US city. The Americans decided to spend time at the kibbutz, physically helping the residents to rebuild, as well as offering support from afar.
“The idea of a delegation of American techies doing renovations and building structures in a kibbutz with the soundtrack of the war in the background sounded completely absurd to me. But it happened, and I was thrilled to see the group sweating and truly working hard, and how meaningful it was to the residents of Re’im that we were there with them,” said Aviv Lazar, director of the Underdog Sports startup in New York.
Lazar, who was a driving force behind the trip, called the visit “the most meaningful thing” he has ever done.” He said the members of the delegation did not realize how deeply it would impact the people involved and those they met during the visit.
“I strongly believe that this duality [of pain and hope] defines the State of Israel,” Lazar added. “Even when we are in deep mourning, we rise and rebuild – there is no other way.”
American volunteers have also been helping to rebuild another ravaged community in the Negev. Kibbutz Erez was badly damaged on October 7, even though the civil guard managed to repel the invaders from Gaza – a mere 800 meters away.
In January, a Jewish National Fund-USA delegation spent time repairing the damage caused by the invasion at the kibbutz, as well as helping to harvest the fruit and vegetables left unpicked in a region that was for so long a closed military zone.
It was the first of many groups from the JNF to arrive in Israel in order to help rehabilitate the South and more are planned through August.
“I came on this trip to help wherever I could. I have supported local farmers by picking oranges, and today, I’m part of rebuilding Kibbutz Erez for the residents who are currently evacuated,” said volunteer Ann Zinman, who is the Jewish National Fund-USA President of Small Communities.
“I’d love for everyone, especially women, to come here and join what I’m doing. The people in this region need you here.”
Funding to rebuild also came from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), which donated $12.5 million to help Negev community farmers replace equipment destroyed or stolen by Hamas and their Gazan supporters on October 7.
The attack left the farmers in the area with massive losses, including over $500 million in income, more than 100,000 acres of farmland, essential equipment such as tractors, plows and combine harvesters, and infrastructure and irrigation system.
“It’s a lot of money, but this one was easy,” Becky Caspi, the head of JFNA’s Israel office, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “We see this as so morally right and important and significant.”
The $12.5 million was donated to ReGrow – a joint project by the Volcani International Partnerships (VIP), Israel’s top agricultural NGO, and Mishkey HaNegev (the Western Negev Farmers’ Association, link in Hebrew) to help get the stricken communities back on their feet.
VIP had approached the JFNA for assistance, stressing the urgent need to replace the equipment as the spring planting was nearing.
“Jewish Federations have done something remarkable. Not only will the grant lay the foundation for recovery, it sends the most moving message to all our farmers, that they are not alone,” said VIP Executive Director Danielle Abraham.
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