JERUSALEM — Ben Amir was born in Los Angeles, California, of Israeli parents, who moved back with their family to Israel when he was 12.
He had a good life working for a car importer in the southern city of Ashkelon, on the Mediterranean coast, about six miles north of the border with the Gaza Strip. There, he lived with his wife Maital, and children Sahar, 3, and Liam, 6.
All that changed on Oct. 7.
“I heard the gunfire from Zakim. It got a little too real. Rockets we’re used to, the gunfire not so much,” Amir said of the perils of living so close to the border.
Zakim, home to a large power plant, is a small community a couple of miles south of Ashkelon, abutting the Gaza Strip.
“It was the most serious thing we’ve ever experienced. The [Hamas terrorists] came from the sea in Zakim,” he said.
“We heard the gunfire, and we called the police, but they didn’t answer,” Maital said.
The Amir family, along with hundreds of other families, was evacuated from the border region following the attacks. Some are in Eilat and the Dead Sea area, while many others, like themselves, temporarily call Jerusalem home while the war rages.
To assist about 50 evacuee families temporarily seeking shelter in Jerusalem, The Genesis 123 Foundation, which builds bridges between Christians and Jews within Israel, is partnering with The Isaiah Projects, a ministry dedicated to creating and providing specific tools that help Christians discover the Hebraic roots of their faith.
Jonathan Feldstein, the Foundation’s founder and president, said that there has never been a more significant time to build these bridges than now, following the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on Oct. 7, which left more than 1,200 Israelis and others dead and more than 240 people initially held hostage in the Gaza Strip, with about 105 of those now freed. He said the outpouring of Christian support for Israel has been unprecedented.
“It’s not just a comfort for me, but for many Israelis to see the support of Christians all around the world as solid as it is,” Feldstein said. “Israeli Jews across the spectrum who never had anything to do with Christians, and may have never even met a Christian, are having the opportunity to see and experience the genuine warmth and support from Christians, in many cases for the first time.”
Feldstein described the attacks as a watershed moment, not just for Israel in its march to defeat Hamas’ war machine operating in the Gaza Strip, but for Jewish-Christian relations and that Christian support for Israel is at the highest level in facing atrocities since the Holocaust.
“All of this came together in one unique experience when, on behalf of the Genesis 123 Foundation, we were able to support dozens of evacuees from Gaza border communities, raising money to provide housing in Jerusalem, as well as meals and activities through a network of Jewish and Christian donors,” said Feldstein, noting that most of the evacuees the Foundation helped to resettle temporarily in a Jerusalem hotel had never met a Christian before.
Feldstein worked with J. Mark Interiors, an interior design firm located adjacent to the hotel, and a network of Jews and Christians, who came together to volunteer and support the effort, including Cry for Zion, Christian Friends of Israel, along with many individuals.
“We saw Israelis coming together in the best way that we do, especially at the most troubling times,” Feldstein said.
Every night, the families were treated to an engaging artistic activity in the design firm’s showroom. On one special evening, they enjoyed a traditional barbecue of chicken, kebabs and chorizo.
On this night, the eve of Shabbat, the activity in the design firm showroom was making Shabbat flowerpots.
Ben and Maital Amir expressed their appreciation for the hospitality provided to them and said they would need to stay with friends near Jerusalem, about 40 miles away from the Gaza border, once the special initiative to provide temporary shelter for them runs out.
“I told them at work that I’m not going to go back until it’s over. I don’t want the kids to be scared,” he said.
Feldstein said that what was most meaningful from this experience is the turnaround of a person volunteering on the evacuee project who had been critical of his work with Christians.
“This person did so out of love and nationalism for our brothers and sisters here, not because it was me or the Genesis 123 Foundation involved specifically. But this person also got to experience the unconditional love and support from Christians all over the world,” Feldstein said, noting how they complimented him for his efforts at the end of the evening.
He said another woman, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, told him how she was raised to distrust Christians, until participating in the evening changed her perspective.
