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Standing with America in its Time of Need
Hurricane Katrina Relief
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in
August 2005, Israel was one of a number of nations
to offer assistance to the relief efforts. An Israeli
airlift arrived in Little Rock, Arkansas with an eighty-ton
shipment of humanitarian aid, including baby food,
diapers, water, ready-to-eat meals, clothes, tents,
blankets, mattresses, stretchers, first aid kits,
wheelchairs and other medical supplies. In addition
to government aid, Israeli non-profit organizations
assisted in the relief efforts. Magen David Adom (Israel's
national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and
blood bank service) began the "United Brotherhood
Operation," which sent a plane-load of supplies
and financial assistance. IsraAid, the coordinating
body of Israeli non-profits organizations involved
in relief work, sent a delegation of medical personnel,
psychologists and experienced search-and-rescue divers.
Five universities in Israel welcomed displaced American
students from the affected areas and invited both
undergraduate and graduate students to continue their
studies in Israel.
U.S. Embassy Bombings
When terrorists bombed the U.S. embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania in August 1998, Israel immediately dispatched
search and rescue teams to assist in saving the victims
trapped under the rubble. The IDF's Home Front Command
Rescue Unit was the first delegation to arrive from
abroad, and was accompanied by military and civilian
doctors, rescue dogs and high-tech rescue equipment.
The Israeli team led the rescue operation in Nairobi,
Kenya and was able to pull three survivors from the
building, perform life-saving operations and provide
medical care to the victims of the bombing.
Left:
IDF rescue team looks through wreckage near the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi for survivors.
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