The Israeli hasbara machine is in full gear this week — grinding as hard as I've ever seen it — to show the world the vast efforts this small Jewish nation is making to help a hurricane-ravaged Philippines back on its feet.
And there is certainly no lack of efforts to boast on. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), one of the world's most powerful militaries — equally strong in medical/trauma relief — just loaded about 150 soldiers and 100 tons of aid onto a 6,000-mile El Al Airlines flight to Manila. The chosen soldiers include doctors, nurses, paramedics, X-ray and laboratory specialists, search-and-rescue experts and more, “all specialists in their fields,” They're not the first IDF personnel to arrive. On Monday morning, according to Apparently, that assessment called for the establishment of an IDF field hospital, like the ones the Israeli army has set up in Haiti and along the Israeli-Syrian border. Below, the IDF describes the field hospital slated for the typhoon-stricken city of Tacloban Bogo City:
An advanced multi-department medical facility, equipped with approximately 100 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies from Israel, will be rapidly established in the city of Tacloban to provide medical care for disaster casualties. The facility will be constructed of a children’s department, a women’s department, an ambulatory care department, and a general admission department, operated by IDF doctors, nurses, paramedics, pharmacists, mental health professionals, x-ray technician, and lab workers.
To keep everyone up to speed, the IDF, famous for its social-media presence, even created a whole new Twitter account: @
Although initial death-toll estimates of 10,000 for Typhoon Haiyan have been pushed back down to about 2,000, the devastation left by the typhoon cannot be over-emphasized. [Update, November 16: The hurricane's fatality count is “>New York Times, the “>BBC and elsewhere show a peaceful, green beachside village reduced to grime and splinters. And those who did survive what is being called possibly the strongest storm in history have a long, painful recovery ahead.
But the IDF is confident it has the resources and experience to help. “Our mission is challenging but we have the best of the best,” In addition, according to Israeli news station Reshet Bet, three non-military Israelis are already working in Tacloban with the French organization Rescuers Without Borders.
IsraAID, a non-governmental Israeli organization that provides aid to foreign countries, was quick to respond as well. When I talked to IsraAID Director Shahar Zahavi on Monday, he said IsraAID had sent over seven medical professionals the night before, and planned to send additional trauma experts and child-protection specialists in the coming days. “Israelis do have the expertise,” he said, “especially because of ongoing tragic events we have here in Israel.” Godspeed.