Charity group falls short on donation pledge

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Christian supporters of Israel in North America donated more than $35 million to the Jewish State last year, the Chicago-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews said Thursday. The figure is significantly lower than the $45 million that group head Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein had previously pledged to donate in 2006. A group spokesman said that the difference in the figures are in part a result of a delay in projects for the rehabilitation of the north following last year's war in Lebanon. The sum represents a 30 percent increase in donations compared to the year before, the organization said. "This past difficult year in Israel only sharpened the need for the generosity of Christians who do not live in Israel," Eckstein said.