As I write this, my family is sitting in their shelter in Rishon L’Tzion, taking cover from Iranian bombs. I, on the other hand, am sitting in Trump’s America—in New York City, to be precise, where my two daughters, my husband, and I are safe and sound. As crazy as it may sound, I wish I were in the shelter with my parents, or with my neighbors, friends, and colleagues. But I am not.
That strange distance—between safety and worry, between being here and wanting to be there—has sharpened something for me over these past days. In moments like this, it becomes clear who is protected and who is left exposed.
As the war enters its second week, Israelis are being encouraged to return to their daily routines. But for many people, especially those living on the margins, there is no routine to return to. Too many communities still lack the most basic protections: shelters, reliable infrastructure, childcare, or even clear information about what to do during an emergency.
At the New Israel Fund, we have spent decades working to strengthen the democratic fabric of Israeli society. In times of war, that commitment becomes even more urgent. Our priority right now is simple: making sure the people most likely to be overlooked are not abandoned.
A recent survey by two organizations we support, Injaz and Sikkuy-Aufoq, found that 41% of Palestinian citizens of Israel lack access to bomb shelters. The gap between citizens who have shelters and those who do not is even greater in Bedouin communities in the Negev, where many residents live in unrecognized villages and have no protected spaces whatsoever. And while the Israeli government bears responsibility for ensuring basic safety infrastructure, NIF and its partners are stepping in—advocating for proper shelters, supporting grassroots efforts to install them, and operating an emergency response center with groups including AJEEC-NISPED and the Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages to coordinate aid, share real-time information, and provide mental health support to tens of thousands of residents.
And of course while our work to protect people—their physical bodies—is fundamental, no less critical is the protection of their basic civil liberties, which are, yet again, being quietly narrowed.
NIF partners are providing legal aid to protesters who have been detained for gathering to oppose the war with Iran. We are supporting journalists facing harassment, and ensuring that people—especially Arabic-speaking communities—have access to accurate information about their rights.
With all of this happening inside of Israel, we are not taking our eyes off of the West Bank. There, millions of Palestinians live not only without shelters, but also without rights.
And the war with Iran has yet again given violent settlers a sense of absolute impunity. They attack Palestinians on their own land, in their own homes. Six Palestinians were killed in the last two weeks by settlers. If precedent is any guide, not one of the cases will be properly—thoroughly, objectively—investigated. No perpetrator will be charged.
In the face of these horrific crimes, NIF grantees like Yesh Din step in to ensure the truth is documented. Recently, they published “Settlers in Uniform,” a report documenting the violence perpetrated against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli civilians wearing military uniforms. Israel has equipped thousands of settlers with military firearms and uniforms and given them lethal powers—with just about no oversight. These settler-soldiers, if they are actually on duty, often abuse their authority, and if they are not, they act on their own initiative, harassing and attacking Palestinians as they wish.
Nadav Weiman, the executive director of Breaking the Silence, told me that the settlers sometimes leave their weapons, fingerprints and all, in these villages. They are simply not worried about the Israeli authorities trying to find them. But he also said that for these Palestinians protective presence is a lifeline. That he gets calls every day from Palestinians asking him to come be with them. Not only do activists show up to help hold off the worst settler offenses, organizations like Rabbis for Human Rights are also delivering food and medical aid to villages cut off by curfews and roadblocks (some of which have been imposed by settlers, not the army) to help make sure that families—many already displaced by violence—have what they need during the holy month of Ramadan.
NIF also supports protective presence directly, with our own coordinator on the ground. Every day, we think about what else can be done to help Palestinians under attack in their own villages stay safely on their land. We will not rest, nor will we be silent, until this horrific reality comes to an end.
If there is one lesson Israelis have learned over many difficult years, it is that civil society is a backstop: we step forward when the government falls short.
Again and again, we see activists, community leaders, doctors, educators, and volunteers mobilizing within hours—delivering aid, protecting rights, and holding on to a vision of a more just and shared society.
They are tired. Many are afraid. But they are also determined. And, most of all, they are not alone.
From New York, far from home but thinking about it every moment, I feel enormous gratitude for the NIF community—people like you who believe that, even in the darkest moments, we must stand up for democracy, equality, and human dignity.
That work has never mattered more.