On the Ground in Israel: The Fund for Women and Girls in Action

Jannah on her trip to Israel

In May 2025, Dr. Jannah Yutkovitz, who leads the Fund for Women and Girls at the Jewish Community Foundation, traveled to Israel to learn about the progress made by our grantee partners and experts in the field as they continue to respond to the events of October 7th and plan for the days ahead.

WHO: Eden Association (grantee, December 2023)

Eden Association is a feminist organization operating since 1997 in the Gaza envelope. The organization specializes in treating complex trauma for women and girls.

WHERE: Eden51 Gallery on Kibbutz Dorot

WHAT WE SAW: The October 7th HerPhoto exhibit, a series of photographic and video testimonies of Israeli women who survived the Hamas attacks in 2023.  Inspired by the video testimonies that Eden Association captured and published to YouTube to make the voices of Israeli women heard after the massacre, artist Alicia Shahaf was moved to continue their stories and create a real-time historical documentation of both the trauma and the healing process. In the exhibition, thirteen women share in their own words the story of the most difficult day of their lives through a gender lens. Alicia captured a portrait and sentence of each woman a year after the event, which sit on display along with each participant’s original video testimony. Visitors to the gallery learn about the Eden Model – Eden Association’s unique feminist approach to psychotherapy, and hear living testimony from a survivor featured in the exhibit.

Jenny Sividia’s portrait on display at Eden51 Gallery. Photo by Alicia Shahaf.

WHY IT MATTERS: The photographs both validate the personal trauma that each woman endured while giving form to their emotions, allowing them to gain control of the thoughts, feelings, and coping mechanisms as they heal. Alicia plans to continue to take portraits of the women each year to help us understand the long-term impact of the October 7th Attack and the Iron Swords war. 

DIG DEEPER: During Jannah’s visit, she met with Jenny Sividia, a survivor of the Nova music festival. The Nova festival was the first music festival Jenny had attended, and she spent the night dancing under the stars with her partner, her younger brother Schlomi, and his girlfriend Lili, whom they had run into by chance at the festival. When the attack began, Jenny and her partner sheltered in place while Schlomi and Lili fled by car to drive home to get back to their children. After it became clear that staying at the site was untenable, Jenny and her partner ran first to their car, packing in as many fellow festival goers as the small car would fit, and then on foot into a pomelo orchard where she hid for nearly 5 hours. She later learned that Schlomi and Lili were gunned down in their car as they attempted to escape. Jenny continues to make meaning of her experience by sharing her story, connecting with other survivors, continuing her career as a therapist, and pursuing her doctorate in gender studies. Throughout the morning of October 7th, Jenny never lost faith that she would make it out alive. Jenny is an active part of the Women Talk War community, including leading part of the community’s first retreat in March of 2025. Jenny describes her resilience as “post-traumatic growth,” as she continues to make meaning of what happened that morning. 

WHO: WePower (grantee, April 2024)

WePower, founded in 2000, is an advocacy organization working to advise legislative bodies from the United Nations to the Knesset, author and pass policies focused on gender equality, and develop the next generations of female policy makers across Israel.

WHERE: Tel Aviv City Center

WHAT WE SAW: WePower’s volunteer-run Gender Equality Accelerator is concentrated on generating new ideas, insights, and innovations to move Israel towards its publicly stated goal of having women achieve 50% representation in public office by 2030. As the current political climate on the Knesset evolves, Orit and her team have been working to build relationships of influence in order to hold ministers like the recently appointed Minister for Social Equality and the Promotion of the Status of Women, May Golan accountable for collecting and disseminating data, and enforcing the laws currently in place. “Our goal is to build an open relationship and to provide support and coaching,” says Orit.

WePower CEO Orit Rishpi. 

WHY IT MATTERS: Less than 8.7% of candidates for elected seats in municipal government are women, one of the first steps in a longer leadership journey to holding power and influence on the passing and enactment of policies that directly impact women and girls across Israel. WePower’s College for Women in Politics in the Negev, or their Municipal Leadership for Women with Disabilities program, are just two examples of the courses they host to train women how to function and gain power in the local election system, and access decision-making centers with local authorities. The courses create a network of influence for women that helps them build coalitions and strengthen their self-esteem and efficacy. WePower’s programming empowers women to take meaningful action in the public sphere, shape their immediate environment, and pursue decision-making roles in the community, from public committees to mayoral seats and the Knesset. 

DIG DEEPER: Dr. Orit Risphi, executive director of WePower, spoke about their recent success in the Knesset, moving forward to committee a bill over 30 years in the making. The last time it made any progress in the Knesset was 2004.  This next step forward marks the first time a model will be created for compensating and reimbursing municipal council members.  “Whichever model they choose, it will be a huge win,” Orit shared. The lack of compensation for time dedicated to serving in council seats has long been a barrier for women and underrepresented communities, as one is often limited in the amount of time one can give to the role, given the need to earn a salary elsewhere. This has historically resulted in seats being predominantly held by men who have financial means. Orit hopes that the compensation model will empower more women to run for office. 

WHO: Bonot Alternativa (grantee, December 2023)

Bonot Alternativa is a non-partisan, grassroots organization focused on women’s empowerment through increasing voter turnout and engagement, and supporting women in running for office. 

WHERE: Ramat Gan

WHAT WE SAW: Executive Director Inbal Gilboa Amir shared successes that the organization has had in encouraging their network of over 100,000 women activists to run in recent municipal elections. In twenty-six municipalities, women who had not considered political engagement prior to joining Bonot’s movement were elected to office. The organization also supported an increase of 22% in the number of women holding elected roles in municipal and regional councils. “We really throw them in the deep end of the ocean,” laughed Inbal. “But then we hold their hands and teach them how to swim, and connect them to training and leadership development.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Involving women in joining pro-democracy parties in Israel, and preparing to run for office is key to ensuring the continuation of a democratic process in Israel, and granting women both representation and decision-making power when it comes to the policies that affect their daily lives from local government, all the way into the Knesset. In 2024, for the first time in its 55-year history, the Israeli Labor Party’s candidate list included more women than men, marking a historic milestone in gender equality. By continuing to focus their core programming on broad systemic change, Bonot believes that they will see significant progress towards Israel’s goal of 50% representation by 2030 in the next national election cycle. 

DIG DEEPER: Bonot’s activist network has leaped into action to support the other women’s organizations across Israel as they fight for recognition of the sexual atrocities committed by Hamas. In addition to releasing their own executive summary on the events of October 7th, Bonot organized a mass protest outside of the UN Women’s Headquarters in New York in March of 2024 to address the silence of the UN on Hamas’s use of conflict-related sexual violence. The protest was timed to align with Amit Sousanna’s testimony and involved Bonot members and families of hostages dressed in red holding signs declaring “Amit Sousana, We Believe.” 

Jewish Women International leaders from DC on the volunteer trip to Israel

WHO: Jewish Women International (grantee, May 2025)

WHERE: Southern Israel

WHAT WE SAW: The team at Jewish Women International (JWI) led a group from the Young Women’s Impact Network (YWIN) on a nine-day volunteer trip throughout southern Israel. During the trip, the women worked alongside farmers with Leket to combat food insecurity and agricultural terrorism across Israel, and met with women-led organizations to learn about the challenges and opportunities that Israeli women face after October 7th. The trip included a visit to the Nova Music Festival site, a meeting with Tamar Levitan from Kibbutz Nahal Oz at Hostage Square, and an opportunity to get to know Fanta Prada, an Operation Solomon survivor and founder of Balinjera and the Ethiopian Cultural Center in Tel Aviv. Participants dug deeper into JWI’s I Believe Israeli Women work, and got to understand first-hand the importance of hearing and validating the testimonies of Israeli women.

WHY IT MATTERS: Each of the young women participating in the trip holds a leadership position in her community across the United States, with more than 30% of the participants coming from the Greater Washington area, representing Federation partner organization’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA) among others.. The trip equipped the women with first-hand accounts of what is happening on the ground, as well as a network of fellow leaders to consult with and lean on when issues arise in their home communities. 

DIG DEEPER: One of the most moving moments of the trip occurred early on a Friday morning, when the group drove to the Gaza envelope to volunteer with a

Volunteers assemble schnitzel sandwiches

women-founded volunteer organization named Shishnitzel on Moshav Nir Galim, which itself was founded by Holocaust survivors. Every Friday morning since February, volunteers from across Israel gather for a few hours to assemble thousands of fresh schnitzel sandwiches to be delivered to military points in Gaza and Lebanon. Each week is dedicated to a fallen soldier. During that week, the family comes to make sandwiches alongside the volunteers, tell the story of their loved one, and add a sticker to each package with a photo of their family member. That Friday morning, we arrived at a party atmosphere of Israeli club music and a fast-paced assembly line. The volunteers ranged from the woman who brings both her 86-year-old mother and 12-year-old son from central Israel each week, to modern orthodox tour groups from Argentina.

On the day of the visit, the organization was honoring Rotem Sahar-Hadar. At 10:30 am the entire bustling operation fell silent as Rotem’s family began to speak. Rotem was a sergeant and medic in the Paratrooper Brigade. During a battle with Hamas in Khan Younis, Rotem jumped on a grenade to save the life of his fellow combatant and friend, who had become a new father the week before to a baby boy named after Rotem. Even after being critically wounded, Rotem ensured that every other member of his unit who had been injured received medical attention and was evacuated before he would leave. He was the last one out. On the medical transport to a hospital in Israel, Rotem called his mother Liat to assure her that he was going to be fine. A member of his unit snatched the phone away to tell her she needed to come quickly to say goodbye. Rotem was just 20 years old.

Tal Hochman, Executive Director, Israel Women’s Network

WHO: Tal Hochman, Executive Director, Israel Women’s Network (subject matter expert)

WHERE: Tel Aviv

WHAT WE SAW: Tal runs an organization focused on government relations, narrative building and legal aid in support of gender equality for women in Israel. In the wake of October 7th, she described how much of her work has shifted to address the ways that women are carrying the burden of the war. Since the beginning of the war, over 50,000 new firearms licenses have been granted by the Ministry of Defense, with a journalistic investigation finding that at least 14,000 were granted unlawfully. The rates of domestic violence against women have nearly doubled since the start of the war, including reports of women and children experiencing sexual violence while located at evacuee hotels. Additionally, the female spouses of reservists have faced an uphill battle trying to maintain their job security while juggling the added economic and familial burden of having their husbands called into service. Furthering the struggle is the lack of response from the Israeli government in responding to the sexual violence associated with October 7th. 

WHY IT MATTERS: Despite public pressure, including from a joint report authored by the Israel Women’s Network and the Women and War Collective, the government has yet to produce a public report itself, nor a plan for creating a database for the assaults that occurred, future litigation, or support systems for survivors. They are working with other women’s organizations across Israel to advocate for policy changes to this response and hold those responsible accountable. 

DIG DEEPER: In looking at systemic solutions to the problems at hand, Tal and the Israel Women’s network have petitioned the high courts to address the fact that there are no women among the twenty-nine directors general of government ministries, no women on the war cabinet, and only one woman on the national security cabinet out of the fifteen cabinet members. They are demanding that the court pressure the government to follow Israeli law and launch proactive searches to identify female candidates for open positions.

WHO: Ayelet Razin Bet-Or, Cofounder, The Dinah Project, &  Nitzan Foundation (subject matter expert)

Ayelet Razin Bet-Or, Dinah Project Founder 

WHERE: Women’s League for Israel, Tel Aviv

WHAT WE SAW: Ayelet spoke about the incredible burnout women leaders are facing as they seek to move their work forward in the face of October 7th. Aside from her full-time work as cofounder of The Dinah Project, raising two children, and working as a lawyer, Ayelet’s reserve duty has required her to spend countless hours reviewing footage and images of the conflict-related sexual violence that occurred on October 7th, and documenting it. She is the sole person in her unit assigned to this task. Ayelet has been deeply shaken by the silence in the feminist community internationally and the loss of the sense of sisterhood that used to bind leaders of feminist organizations together. “It has been unbearably lonely at times,” Ayelet shared. “I feel like I am weighed down by this heavy burden, waiting for someone to come tap me on the shoulder and relieve some of the load, but they never come. We are all traumatized, trying to move about our lives.” One of the greatest accomplishments of The Dinah Project was getting Pramila Patten, United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations to visit Israel and issue first a report in March of 2024, and then a statement on the one year anniversary of October 7th condemning the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas and demanding release of the hostages and an end to the war. 

WHY IT MATTERS: Women in leadership are already at a higher risk of burnout than their male counterparts due to the additional demands on their time and resources in society. As leaders like Ayelet and her colleagues continue to be silenced and marginalized among the global feminist community, the energy required for the pursuit of justice on behalf of the victims and survivors drains. The irony is that many of these women are burning out fighting for the policies and practices that would sustain their work and make their environment a place to thrive, rather than just survive.

DIG DEEPER: As part of her own self-care as a leader, Ayelet has chosen to take a step back from the heavy work of the Dinah Project to direct a new initiative, The Nitzan Foundation, a philanthropic fund to seed new ideas, prototypes, and problem-solving methods to achieve gender equality in Israel. In 2025, the Foundation will award five new projects with $10,000 NIS each to bring their idea to life. These fresh faces and ideas give her hope for a better future for all Israeli women.