A report that a Jewish family has been smuggled out of Syria and brought to Israel was cleared for publication on Thursday.
This was the first time in over three years of the Syrian civil war that a Jewish family has left the war-torn country for Israel. They made the secretive journey in a number of tranches until they reunited before with the family just before Independence Day at the beginning of May this year. …
A source closely involved in the issue told Ynet that “what is amazing is that out of nine million Syrians who have been left without a home, these nine have a home and it is the State of Israel. We must understand that if they wouldn’t have made it to Israel, they would have remained homeless.
The rescue operation was facilitated by Moti Kahana, an Israeli-American businessman who has been involved in recent years in humanitarian efforts for Syrian refugees.
In the course of his humanitarian activity he fostered connections with leaders of the Syrian opposition, and enlisted their help to get the Jewish family out of the country.
Among the organizations involved in saving the family were Israel’s Ministry of Absorption, the Jewish Agency,and an Israeli NGO, Israel Flying Aid (IFA), whose mission is to provide “humanitarian aid to countries with whom Israel does not have diplomatic relations.”
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with members of IFA and offered this tribute:
There is a line that separates light from darkness and this line is found – in the clearest possible manner – on the Golan Heights. One hundred meters from the border is a field hospital with IDF doctors and nurses in which Jews and non-Jews care for those from the Syrian side who have been wounded and injured. Small children, some of them amputees, who have been injured come with their parents, some of whom have also been injured, and receive treatment in Israel. They all say the same thing, ‘We do not understand. We were always told that you are devils and here we see that you are human beings. You are helping us. You, our greatest enemies, are giving us the assistance that we would expect from our own people.’ This is the true humanity of the State of Israel, of Israeli youth and the citizens of Israel, and this is the truth. Everything else is propaganda. This is the truth in the great struggle between civilization and barbarism.
Netanyahu was referring to the more than 200 Syrians injured in the civil war who have been treated in Israel. Some have even receiving cutting-edge treatments. Some analysts concluded that these rescues were made possible by secret contacts with moderate rebels fighting the Assad regime.
[Photo: Christopher Knoch / YouTube ]