Emergency Assistance for Kibbutz Merav – Supplies for our Security Team

Kibbutz Merav is a community of 150 families, about 850 people, on Mount Gilboa in northern Israel. Established in 1982, our kibbutz is within the Green Line, but very close to the separation fence between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Just 150 meters separate the houses on the western edge of Merav from the houses on the eastern edge of the Palestinian village of Jilaboun. For many years Merav had a very good relationship with the Jilaboun villagers, including work in the kibbutz factory and even social visits. All that changed abruptly during the second intifada in August 2001 when a small band of terrorists from the village shot at a car from the kibbutz, killing Aliza, a 16-year-old girl, and wounding 3 others. Needless to say, the ties between the kibbutz and the village were immediately cut off. During the next couple of years, the IDF erected the separation fence, and things were quiet until April of this year. Since Passover 2023, there have been more than 20 attacks by automatic weapons from Jilaboun towards the houses on Merav. At the beginning of the Sukkot holiday, just when everyone was lighting candles, a kibbutz member was nearly killed by bullets that damaged his house. Since the beginning of the war there have been land mines on the security fence and an attempt to infiltrate our community. The effect on the kibbutz has been predictable – frightened children and adults, a new emphasis on security at the expense of other activities, even episodes of post-trauma from people who have begun reliving the experience of 2001, or other similar events. Before the war we were actively lobbying the army and the government for additional troops to safeguard our region; we still have a few soldiers patrolling our area, but obviously the government and the army now have more immediate problems. We need to face the fact that our small local security team, made up of volunteer kibbutz members, may very well need to defend our community from any attack on our kibbutz for the foreseeable future, as was the case with many southern communities in recent weeks. In the case of Kibbutz Merav, these attacks are not theoretical, but very real, and come at a time when most of the men on the kibbutz have been drafted in to the reserves. The security and first response teams are very active, and have been working and training for many hours per week, alongside their regular jobs or reserve duty. The security team receives weapons from the army, but lacks other basic self-defense supplies; the medical first response teams are not funded or supplied in any way. We would be very appreciative of any emergency support you can give us to purchase additional supplies to enable our volunteers to better defend their fellow kibbutz members. List of supplies necessary to cope with current security situation: • Portable bomb shelters for unprotected areas in kibbutz: $100,000 • Personal defense equipment for security team - $28,000 • Equipment for control room in bomb shelter - $7000 • Equipment for emergency medical team: $12,000