Thursday, October 22, 2026
One Israel Fund, a nonprofit based in Hewlett, has been committed to the safety and well- being of over 500,000 residents of Judea and Samaria — the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem — since 1994.
“As the premier organization supporting these regions,” the website oneisraelfund.org states, “One Israel Fund works tirelessly to facilitate, on average, over 200 unique projects annually, filling gaps in medical, educational, recreational, preventative security and all other forms of communal and social welfare.” The group collaborates with community and regional leadership and government officials to help Jewish life flourish.
Scott Feltman, of Hewlett, got involved with the organization in 2001, and has been its executive vice president for 18 years.
“I spent the first three years as the director of development,” Feltman said. “The first project I was tasked with was raising money for Jewish schools all around the country for children’s bulletproof vests.” Families in Israel signed out bulletproof vests at guard booths to protect their children in case of drive-by shootings.
Feltman left One Israel Fund in 2004 — reluctantly, he said — because of the extensive domestic travel the job required, to Jewish schools in 30 states. He became the executive director of Congregation Beth Shalom, in Lawrence. “When I left One Israel Fund,” he recalled, “it had gone from an organization that was raising less than $1 million (per year) prior to the Intifada years to close to $5 million.”
Raising money primarily through fundraisers and donations — among them its annual Summer Barbecue and Fine Israeli Wine Tasting — the organization builds playgrounds, libraries, community centers, dental clinics and medical centers, and helps with preventive security for Israeli civilians.
In 2007, Feltman was asked to come back, but could not commit to doing as much traveling as he had previously. “I finally came to an agreement with them after six months,” he said. “They gave me the leeway to hire other people in the organization that could help with the travel, and we slowly started to rebuild the organization.”
He now has a staff of six full-time employees and three part-timers in the United States and Israel. “I’ve watched the organization ebb and flow and certainly grow, and now we’re impacting on a much larger level than we ever have,” Feltman said. “We have a very active involvement in the Five Towns, and they are our most active area of support.”
The organization is now working on funding the construction of a hospital in the Binyamin Region of Israel, north of Jerusalem, which is part of Samaria.
“We have upped our game in many ways to fortify the communities in Judea and Samaria after the events of Oct. 7 to ensure they didn’t suffer the same fate,” Feltman said.
Treasurer Jay Kestenbaum, of Lawrence, has been involved with the fund since its inception. “I became involved with One Israel Fund at the beginning, during the days of the Oslo Accords, and earlier, when there was a tremendous need to support the communities of Judea and Samaria,” Kestenbaum said.
Judea and Samaria has more than 150 communities and a growing population of over 500,000. “Many people realized there was a need to help this area,” Kestenbaum said, “and anyone who has been to there realizes the danger and fragile position of having an area that’s 13 miles wide at its narrowest point. You realize in Israel, terrorism easily reaches across the whole state in a few seconds if we don’t protect our borders and the area that is rightfully ours.”
He emphasized that the number one need is residents’ security. “We have been the leader in Israel in developing security projects through many communities,” Kestenbaum said, “whether it’s camera systems, security patrol vehicles or thermal drones, so that the proper forces and the local civilian forces can tell if there’s an attack coming in.”
Aliza Pilichowski, the mayor of Mitzpe Yericho, in the West Bank, knows firsthand how One Israel Fund helps communities like hers.
“In Mitzpe Yericho, we have 590 families with about 2,500 individuals,” Pilichowski said. “I heard about One Israel Fund when I became the mayor here, seven years ago. We had been recipients of funds from them many years before that.”
Her town has received not only money, but also moral support and guidance from the organization. “When we want to buy new security items, we’ll call One Israel Fund and talk with Scott and get the advice we need,” she said, “and know what the best practices in the field are.”
Mitzpe Yericho is planning the construction of a basketball court and an indoor gym thanks to the organization.
“We’ve gotten so much support not only in the fundraising realm, but in addition, they’re connecting us with coaches and real experts in the field of building these gyms and making sure it’s going to be the best possible for our residents,” Pilichowski said.
