ASHKELON — The soldiers guarding Avi Chivivian’s organic vegetable farm in southern Israel must first scour every corner of his fields for terrorists before they give him the all clear: He has six hours to work.
The eruption of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 saw nearly half the Israeli population engaged in some form of volunteer work during the first two weeks of the conflict, according to an academic study released Thursday.
While early accounts from the war have been grim, the spirit of volunteerism and willingness to help that has been displayed by the Israeli public has been remarkable.
It was hot and stifling in the corridors of Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital. Hundreds of people queued for hours, but no one complained. It was the afternoon of October 7 and they were waiting to give blood.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered a speech on Wednesday- calling on all Israelis to maintain the same level of unity and efforts displayed by IDF soldiers on the frontlines.