Over 1,000 Israelis pitched in to answer the call put out by the NIF-convened Tag Meir coalition to raise nearly NIS 200,000 for Ahmed Dawabsha, aged four, the sole survivor of the horrific arson attack on his home in Duma, which killed the rest of his immediate family. The initial goal of the campaign had been NIS 80,000, but this figure was passed within 24 hours. The new target is NIS 240,000.

Tag Meir Chair Gadi Gvaryahu said: “A broad mobilization of the Israeli public will send the Dawabsha family, and other minorities living among us, a message of reform, solidarity, shared destiny, and compassion in the spirit of the Torah of Israel, the commandment to ‘love him as yourself – for you were strangers in the land of Egypt’ and ‘peace, peace to the far and the near.’”

One and a half year old Ali Dawabsha was killed during the attack, while Ahmed’s father, Saad, and mother, Riham, died from their injuries in the following weeks. Ahmed’s grandfather, Hussein Dawabsha welcomed the campaign, saying that “this is the opportunity to thank all those behind this campaign. We are proud of such people who support us.”

The campaign will pay for Ahmed’s medical treatment and rehabilitation, will support his extended family, and provide funds for education and assistance for Ahmed in the future. Another important aim of the campaign is to send out the message that Israeli Judaism’s way is one of pleasantness and mutual respect, not of extremism and zealotry.