Christian-Jewish group pledges $45m for Israel

The head of the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews pledged to contribute up to $45 million this year to the State of Israel from money donated by Christian Evangelical supporters, in what would be the largest-ever annual financial contribution the group has made in its 23-year history. "Our goal is that not one resident of the State of Israel should feel despair," said group head Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. The organization has previously announced that it would contribute a total of $9 million to hard-hit residents of northern Israel as a result of the 34-day war with Hizbullah this summer.