Yad Sarah, Israel’s largest volunteer-run non-profit organization, this week began circumventing shipping delays of critical equipment caused by attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis with the arrival of the first airlift to Ben Gurion Airport.
The hostilities in the Red Sea have so far diverted 64 containers of urgent medical supplies and are likely to cause a further delay of up to five months on any new maritime order, the organization said, warning that such setbacks were life-threatening.
Yad Sarah Founder Rabbi Uri Lupolianski told The Algemeiner that his organization sought to “support the gap in the healthcare system in Israel” by importing an “unprecedented quantity of medical and rehabilitation equipment” for soldiers, evacuees and hospitalized patients.
“As the leading social organization in the field of home rehabilitation and recovery in Israel, we are in the midst of a marathon to provide much-needed assistance, as we do always, but even more now in times of emergency,” he said.
Tuesday’s airlift was the first of a series that were facilitated through a targeted global fundraising campaign that included a significant donation from the Jewish Federations of North America. Airlifts can incur costs up to four times those of maritime shipments.
“As our brave soldiers fight to defend Israel on all fronts, we are stepping in to do our part to circumvent life-endangering delays in humanitarian supplies due to regional hostilities,” Yad Sarah CEO Moshe Cohen said.
“These critical steps also support precautionary measures for a severe worsening of the situation in the north of the country,” he added.
Among the critical items that were delivered were Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) devices used in physiotherapy and portable oxygen generators, which will be used for the home rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, the general population, and those under threat from power outages in Israel’s north.
Source - The Algemeiner/Debbie Weiss/X - Image - courtesy Yad Sarah