Diaspora Giving Fuels Israel's Civic Resilience

JGive expects more than 250,000 Israeli and Diaspora donors to contribute about NIS 500 million through its platform this year—more than four times its pre-war volume, founder and CEO Ori Ben-Shlomo said on The Deep Dive. The surge followed October 7, helping charities raise emergency funds as a national emergency fund assisted evacuees.

Emergency Response and Recovery

After calls came in from New York, Los Angeles and London on October 7, JGive helped thousands of charities raise emergency funds, Ben-Shlomo said. The platform also set up a national emergency fund led by, among others, a former Israel Air Force commander and a former Supreme Court justice.

The fund first paid for evacuees’ basic needs, including those of Holocaust survivors who left the kibbutzim. It covered food, clothing and medication. Later, the fund broadened its work to include education and rehabilitation, Ben-Shlomo said.

The change in charitable giving has altered how Israelis view civil society organizations, he said. Israelis now regard them as a “must-have,” not a nice extra. “It changed society,” he said.

Ben-Shlomo started JGive after serving as a reservist in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. He said he had seen poor coordination waste donated goodwill. Before launching the platform, he worked as a lawyer and general counsel at a major Israeli media group.

A Changing Donor Base

Ben-Shlomo described a shift in how Diaspora Jews give to Israel. In his account, grandparents tended to write checks to large institutions. Younger donors increasingly want to give “without the middleman” to specific causes they’ve researched, and they now give alongside Israelis rather than simply to them.

“Israel is not a young state,” Ben-Shlomo said. “We’re close to 80.” Young people now rank among JGive’s top donors, he said, even though major charities had previously told him they couldn’t reach that group.

With Israeli elections two weeks away, Ben-Shlomo spoke about Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel’s future but can’t vote there. He called giving “the best way” for them to have a say, arguing it shapes the country more than politics. “Politics divides people, and giving connects people,” he said.

Donor Reform and Diaspora Security

Ben-Shlomo also addressed rising antisemitism and pressure on Jewish communities abroad to pay for their own security while continuing to support Israel. Donors had shifted the balance toward their own communities without ending their support for Israel, he said. He argued Israel’s government and donors should help Diaspora communities in return.

He said he worked with Israel’s Tax Authority to introduce donor-advised funds, familiar in the United States, and allow donations of stocks and other assets. Ben-Shlomo called the change “a game changer.” He said more reforms were needed, including ceilings on tax benefits for major donors.

Ben-Shlomo described his wider aim as building Israel’s “fourth power.” After defense, the economy and technology, he said, the country needs a society “that makes sure no one is left behind,” built from the ground up like the start-up nation.

Asked if he was optimistic about the next generation, Ben-Shlomo told the story of a reserve officer badly wounded in Lebanon who organized a campaign for another patient while still in rehabilitation.