Cleveland Jewish community increases aid to Israel

The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - The city's Jewish community is stepping up relief efforts to Israel.

Organizers of Israel Now and Forever - Cleveland's aid-to-Israel campaign - have upped their fund-raising goal by 75 percent, from $6 million to $10.5 million.

The money will be used to aid terrorism victims with medical and counseling services, said Joel Fox, president of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, the main coordinating agency for the region's Jewish organizations.

The Israel Now campaign already has collected $7.2 million, and Louis Malcmacher, a volunteer for JCF, believes the group will have no problem collecting the rest.

Although other cities have raised more money, national Jewish leaders credit Cleveland with leading the way. "Cleveland ran the most successful campaign, and they finished as others were just organizing," said Stephen Hoffman, president of the United Jewish Communities, the national umbrella organization of Jewish federations. "In this particular period, the singular contribution of Cleveland nationally has been leadership."

The approximately 85,000 Jews in greater Cleveland have supported Israel since the nation's founding in 1948. But it was not until 2000, when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared an uprising against the Jewish state, that Israel Now was formed.

"Our efforts on behalf of Israel are not new," said Amy Morgenstern, who helped organize Israel Now. "The nature, depth and magnitude of those efforts have increased dramatically."