- Tamir Idan, Head of the Sdot Negev Regional Council
Dear Friends in the community of Philadelphia,
We are now experiencing very, very hard times. The forces of evil surprised us and attacked the State of Israel. For us, this is like a second Yom Kippur War for the State of Israel.
This morning we found ourselves under the attack of missiles and artillery inside our communities. Battles were fought within our communities, with many wounded and killed, and we are still trying to understand the magnitude of the event.
The State of Israel is under an existential threat, a real war. Many in the community are currently locked inside their houses and cannot leave as there are still suspected terrorists hiding in the area.
There are terrible explosions in the entire area. Fortunately, at the moment, we are not in a war zone, but we are watching the fire around us and are ready for any provocation, and realize the situation could deteriorate as it did yesterday.
First of all, we want to say thank you for your support and for the love. We feel your warm hug. We had calls from all your leaders and very much appreciate it. We ask you to please help us as much as you can, this situation will take several weeks and we are in need of many different resources.
I spoke this morning with Tali [Lidar, Director of Israel and Global Operations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia] and she is really helping us with all her strength. We ask for your help. Thank you for the hug, and thank you for the support.
The people of Israel will eventually win, as always, but this time it will be long and complicated. We will stand strong, no one will move us, and we will do what is necessary for the State of Israel to return to being a united state, and with G-d's help, with as few casualties and injuries as possible.
WATCH: Tamir Idan
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Help provide people like Tamir Idan with emergency relief by making a gift to the Philly Stands with Israel Fund: jewishphilly.org/emergency