The non-Jews volunteering to help Israel

Thousands of volunteers come to Israel each year offering services from working in kibbutz orchards to giving soldiers free massages. For most, volunteering is an experience of Jewish solidarity, but some come without that connection.

Of the 43,000 volunteers who belong to the Sword of Iron Facebook group, a clearinghouse for volunteers and volunteer organisations, more than 8,000 are not Jewish.

What propels them to give them time and energy to a beleaguered country that isn’t even theirs?  

Sam Cox
United Kingdom

When Sam was a young girl, her grandfather told her about his experience liberating a concentration camp, as a World War II British soldier. He later served in Mandatory Palestine, where he refused to turn in weapons stockpiled by Jewish communities. “After what he saw, he knew the Jews would be attacked again,” says Sam.

Her grandfather’s experience shaped Sam’s feelings about Jews and Israel. At age 20 she spent “the happiest year of my life” on Kibbutz Kabri in the Western Galil. She also became aware of how close that idyllic life was to attack when she visited her paratrooper boyfriend in the West Bank.

Thirty-five years later, after October 7, she scraped together her savings and came back to the country she loves to volunteer. Her motivation is moral but not religious. “I’m an atheist. I came to Israel because it’s right.”

Her first stint was packing medical kits on an army base. She slept in the dorm, which she hated (“I never knew that I snored!”); ate with the soldiers, which she loved; and cleaned the dining hall for Passover.

An occupational therapist by profession, Sam also spent three months at Adi Negev rehabilitation centre treating patients.

“The kids in the IDF are seeing things my grandfather witnessed in WWII,” she says. “The victims of this war are still being created. We have no way of knowing how this will affect society.”

Sam says her support for Israel has left her isolated at home. “I’m alone in England. No one in my community knows what a kibbutz is, and there are lots of people I can no longer speak with.”

She meets hostility when she wears her Israeli flag pin or hostage dog tag. “It feels like being in 1930s Germany,” she says, of responding to constant criticism of Israel and antisemitism.

Sam speaks passionately about Israel and says she would love to live here. “People who have never been to Israel don’t understand the kindness in the society. Israelis are rude, blunt, straightforward, and the kindest people I’ve ever met. Israel has no choice but to defend themselves.”

Among the connections she has made is the sister of returned hostage Yarden Bibas, whose wife Shiri and their redheaded sons, Ariel and Kfir, are perhaps the best-known victims of October 7, kidnapped and then murdered by Hamas. Sam shares a birthday with Kfir, who was only nine months old when he was abducted. “I will always cut the first slice of my birthday cake for Kfir,” she says. 

Brenda Malae
United States/Australia

Growing up as a Christian in the United States, Brenda first experienced the land of Israel through the pages of the Bible. When she finally visited Jerusalem in 2015, she walked Via Dolorosa and the Stations of the Cross in tears.

Since then, Brenda has settled in Australia but visits Israel every year. “Like a magnet draws metal that’s how Israel draws me,” she says.

When the Gaza war broke out, Brenda signed up with the Sar-El volunteer network. She has volunteered on army bases and agricultural projects, coming for two weeks at a time on multiple visits to help the Jewish state any way she can.

She is part of a group of mixed Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers from Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe who organize to be in Israel together. At the end of each day, over dinner, they share stories – and, she says, tears.

“What is happening to Jewish people around the world is unfair. My heart goes out to you.”

Brenda was deeply affected by October 7. She has visited Hostage Square in Tel Aviv and the Nova Festival site. “I stood in the middle of all those pictures,” she says. “All those young people with their beautiful smiles.” She wipes away tears. “I am mother and grandmother, and they’re the same age as my children… their parents left behind… these young children, and their promising future was stolen. It broke my heart.”

But she seems incapable of remaining sad for long. Her face brightens with a generous smile. “It makes me happy that so many Jews – and so many other people from around the world – have come to Israel to help.”

Volunteering is deeply embedded in Brenda’s life. She grew up in a family that didn’t have much and before becoming a volunteer in Israel volunteered feeding the homeless in the US.

But now Israel is her focus. She plans to retire from her job with Qantas next year and move permanently to Israel and just be a part of the society, “to just use my hands and feet to help”.

She has a message for Israelis and Jews around the world. “Hang in there and know that, though the storm looks bad, there are non-Jews who love you and support you. From my heart to all Jews and Israelis, I love you and pray that God will watch over you.”

Ania Motowidelko Lawrence
Poland/United States

Raised Catholic in Poland, Ania has lived for many years in the United States, where she is married to a Jewish man. This is her fourth trip to Israel and her third as a volunteer.

She has left her husband and children behind for volunteering stints doling out food and supplies to soldiers at the Shuva Junction in the Gaza envelope, picking peppers near the Egyptian border, and volunteering on a Beersheva army base.

“I’m here to fight evil,” she says. “October 7 was a wake-up call for me. I have lots of Polish friends and family in Chicago. After October 7, I was shocked by the antisemitism that came to the surface. It was crushing for me.”

Ania’s Polish friends in Chicago, and her mother and brother in Poland all oppose her work in Israel. “[They say] ‘Why are you doing this? You’re not Jewish. This isn’t about you’,” she told The Jewish Independent.

She no longer tries to persuade people of Israel’s case but judges people on their willingness to support Jews against persecution.  “I no longer try to convince people. When I meet someone, I size them up. I ask myself, if they started hunting down Jews again, would this person hide my daughter?”

For Ania, volunteering isn’t just about the work but also about letting Israelis know they have support. “At first, I thought, how many sandwiches can I make in a day? How many peppers or onions can I pick in a day? Then I realized that just coming here is so important, telling Israelis that there are lots of people like me in the world, people who want to be supportive”.

She finds Israeli culture inspiring. “I learn so much from Israelis. In America people aren’t allowed to be ‘triggered,’ but here no one has the time to worry about it. You deal with things, because they are part of life. Because whatever happened now, next week there will be something else.”

As we finish talking, a new batch of soldiers files in for a hot meal at the support centre where she is volunteering. They take seats along the benches and put their rifles aside. Ania looks at them fondly. “I love it here,” she says. “I wish I could stay in Israel longer, but my kids need me.”

Eddy Boevink
Holland

When Eddy lost his father at age 10, his grief led to a cycle of despair led and 15  years of heroin addiction.

His life changed at “Tikvah,” a Dutch Christian rehabilitation centre named for the Hebrew word meaning ‘Hope’, where he was able to overcome his grief and decided to dedicate his life to Christianity and service.

Eddy became the rehabilitation centre’s manager and began a long list of volunteer roles working with the homeless, with refugees, with people with developmental disabilities, and with people in  Mozambique and Tanzania starting small businesses.

He was in Africa on October 7, 2023. “I was sitting at home crying. I told my family I need to go to Israel.”

Eddy volunteered for two weeks in February 2024, then returned for three weeks in April, then another three weeks in September, then two months.

As well as practical volunteering, his mission has evolved to include sharing his experiences widely on social media. He posts stories and opportunities for volunteering, lists resources for travel to Israel and urges people to visit.

“The world has turned its back on you – Israel is the bad guy! Now I come to tell the story of Israel. I’m all over social media, combatting the lies in the mainstream media and telling the truth about Israel.”

Eddy is alarmed at antisemitism in Europe. He is trying to share his knowledge through churches in Holland and hopes his digital bridge can cut through the fog of hatred to educate a world that is judging Israel harshly.

“The world loves the comfortable lie, and hates the uncomfortable truth,” says Eddy. “I have to do this. Because it’s how I show my faith. How I bless Israel. And now, because I’m family.”

Though a deeply committed Catholic, Eddy never proselytizes. He sees supporting the Jewish people as a key part of his Christian faith.

 “Israel is the roots and trunk of the tree. We Christians are a branch, and we are blessed because of you. The purpose of my life is to show the world good deeds, not to talk about Jesus. I come to bless Israel and the Jewish people, just by helping.”