Israel looks to send $1m. in aid to Houston Jewish community

The Diaspora Ministry is planning to allocate $1 million for emergency aid to the hurricane-ravaged Jewish community of Houston, Texas.

“The Jewish state is measured by its response when our brothers around the world are in crisis,” Diaspora Minister Naftali Bennett says in a statement.

The aid must be approved by the cabinet, which is slated to hold its next meeting on Sunday.

The plan calls to distribute the funds through Israel’s Houston consulate, earmarking much of the money for repairing damaged infrastructure in communal institutions such as schools, synagogues and community centers devastated by ten days of flooding since Harvey made landfall on August 25.

“The city of Houston was hurt badly last week, and the Jewish community, 70% of which lived in the flooded neighborhoods, was hit hard,” Bennett is quoted as saying. “Schools and synagogues were flooded and can’t be used. The old-age home and JCC were damaged, and hundreds of families will remain homeless. From talks we’ve had over the past week with the heads of the community and Israel’s consul general we learned the damage is vast, and the rehabilitation will take years. For years the Jewish communities stood by Israel when it needed their help; now it is our turn to stand by Houston’s Jewish community.”