Philanthropist and Israel advocate Yaara Bank-Plotkin, speaking at the Jerusalem Post Miami Summit, said that the Jews of the Diaspora not only credit the IDF for preserving Israel’s safety, but also for safeguarding all Jews worldwide.
Bank-Plotkin shared details of two organizations that provide vital assistance to Israel’s soldiers. The first, Operation Israel, is a 100% volunteer-run, 100% donation-funded organization that offers life-saving equipment for soldiers. Over the past two years, Operation Israel has raised $10.8 million to support more than 92,000 soldiers with medical supplies and life-saving equipment.
Operation Israel projects include advanced robotics, surveillance and detection technologies, drone labs and drone operations, and protective technology developed directly from frontline needs. Bank-Plotkin pointed out two specific projects – a tank-integrated drone system that allows crews to identify threats without exposing themselves, and IED detection and training that saves lives before soldiers enter danger zones.
The second organization she cited, Belev Echad, is an international nonprofit dedicated to providing physical, medical, legal, emotional, and financial support to wounded men and women of the IDF. In 2022, the Plotkin Family Belev Echad House opened in Kiryat Ono, providing advanced physical therapy, hydrotherapy, bionic-limb integration, martial arts, and PTSD service-dog training. Bank-Plotkin announced that the organization has acquired a second property that will serve as the Jerusalem Rehabilitation House.
Belev Echad has also partnered with NYU Langone Medical Center and Dr. Omri Ayalon to provide osseointegration, a cutting-edge surgery that fuses prosthetics to the bone. In the past year, it facilitated 35 bionic prosthetics and 7 life-altering surgeries.
“Our Miami community may be far from the battlefield,” concluded Bank-Plotkin, “but with organizations like Operation Israel and Belev Echad, our impact can be felt every step of the way. IDF soldiers of every generation know that they have to defend Israel in order to exist. This generation of soldiers needs to know that while they continue fighting for the Jewish people, we, the Diaspora warriors, will support them wholeheartedly.”
This article was written in collaboration with Belev Echad.