ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

President Isaac Herzog took his first official site visit for a social cause as president today when he toured the Amigour Joseph Wilf Home for the Elderly, a newly-completed facility in Tel Aviv which is part of The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Amigour Public Housing Program.


"I am very moved to be standing here as President of Israel," said Herzog. "This is my first visit to an Amigour senior citizens’ home as president and I intend to promote the interests of these vulnerable populations in Israel from the President’s Residence."

"We need to extend a hand to Israel’s senior citizens - those who built the country and those who fought the Nazis and made Aliyah (immigrated to Israel)," he added. "I thank the State of Israel, The Jewish Agency, Mark and Jane Wilf, along with the leadership of the North American Jewish community and Keren Hayesod for their support of this impressive project.”

This 290-unit apartment complex houses senior citizens, including Holocaust survivors and new immigrants. This is the first completed project in a national initiative between the Government of Israel and The Jewish Agency to build 2,650 housing units across the country on Jewish Agency lands with support from global Jewry.R-L: Netanel Lapidot, Senior Department Manager of Strategy and Planning Policy at the Ministry of Construction and Housing; Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA); President Isaac Herzog; Mark Wilf, Chair of JFNA’s Board of Trustees; Jane Wilf; Andrew Wilf; Amira Ahronoviz, Director-General and CEO of The Jewish Agency; Ariea Abir, Chairman of the Board of Amigour; Moshe Ashirie, CFO of The Jewish Agency (Credit: The Jewish Agency)“It is a moral and national imperative to take care of the elderly population in Israel," said Minister of Construction and Housing MK Ze’ev Elkin. "This project provides an immediate solution for our senior citizens who have yearned for public housing for many years. 'Honor your mother and father' is not just one of the ten commandments: it’s a way of life. "I believe that integrating the older generations into the general population elevates the standard of living in the country as a whole and promotes the idea that the elderly community living in dignity is simply a part of the social fabric in Israel.”

President Herzog, who was heavily involved with this project located on Tel Aviv’s HaShalom Street while he was Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency, today unveiled a placard in the building’s lobby listing the donors who made this initiative possible.

Herzog thanked Mark Wilf, Chair of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) Board of Trustees, his wife Jane, and their extended family for their substantial contributions to the project, named in memory of Wilf’s father, Joseph Wilf, a Holocaust survivor and prominent leader of his local Jewish community in New Jersey.

"When I first heard about the wonderful Amigour project, I knew it would be a very fitting tribute to my father z”l," Wilf said. "He was a man who cared so deeply about Israel and its people, and set an indelible example with his drive to keep on doing more to help build the Jewish state. "It is difficult for me to overstate how proud my family and I am of this center – and how proud my beloved father would have been to see it. It is a place that will provide much-needed housing to Israel's elderly and will bear his name."

Director-General and CEO of The Jewish Agency Amira Ahronoviz added: “Jewish tradition commands us to look after our elders. The Amigour Joseph Wilf Home for the Elderly is the first phase of a national initiative of the Government of Israel and The Jewish Agency, which will ensure thousands of senior citizens, including Holocaust survivors and new immigrants, the right to quality housing and to age with dignity in the State of Israel.”Chairman of the Board of Amigour Ariea Abir also added: “Mutual responsibility and compassion for the elderly are critical elements to our society. It warms my heart to see the efforts of the people of Israel and world Jewry provide senior citizens with a supportive living environment. I’m proud of this project that adds hundreds of new apartments for the elderly, and there are more to come.”