From Supplies for Ukraine to Flights for Israel: Who is Behind the American Organization “Friends of Israel”

The headline about the charter with reservists that flew from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv a few days after the Hamas attack sounded like a scene from a movie. But for the participants, it was not a film. A group of friends gathered in a hotel room, connected others via FaceTime, and created something like an improvised headquarters. Commercial flights had stopped, but they decided to look for a workaround. The solution turned out to be straightforward — renting a plane and sending people and equipment where it was needed.

This is how the non-profit organization “Friends of Israel” was born. David Malka and Michael Sinensky, entrepreneurs with crisis logistics experience, saw the footage on October 7 and realized they needed to act immediately. They did not plan to create a structure — it happened simply because there was no other way to respond to what was happening. In the first hours, they did not yet understand the scale of that day, but their intuition was accurate.

The team is now small — eleven people between Israel and the USA. They work with government agencies, partners, and volunteers. 95% of all collected funds go directly to the front. These people have been through similar situations before: during the pandemic, they built their own logistics chains and delivered tens of millions of medical supplies to hospitals when official channels were paralyzed.

When Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, they mobilized again. For Sinensky, it was a story in which he saw his own experience — a threat to home that Jewish history knows all too well. Access to medical supplies was there, but the delivery infrastructure was lacking — so they created it themselves. This is how the World Friends Fund was born. The first shipments were sent manually, without formalities and expectations.

A thousand first aid kits were sent to Ukraine, and almost immediately videos started coming from the front lines where these kits were used in practice. Within a few months, the volume of supplies exceeded $35 million. The mechanism proved its effectiveness, and by October 7, the team was fully battle-ready — in a professional sense.

The new phase began immediately after the attack. People paused their own businesses, invested personal funds, and began organizing purchases. None of them had worked in the non-profit sector before, but their logistics experience and connections allowed them to quickly establish a route for aid from warehouses to the front lines. The work became direct, without unnecessary formalities and lengthy approvals.

At the same time, understanding the psychological burden became a separate focus. Soldiers risk their lives daily, families experience constant anxiety — and the organization found partners among those who know how to work with PTSD. Healthy Mind, one of Israel’s leading psychiatric platforms, allows people to receive help from licensed specialists in just a few days, not weeks. For those who experienced October 7, this turned out to be critically important.

In one case, a soldier reported that the IFAK kit provided by “Friends of Israel” saved his life after an injury. In another story, a woman describes finding help for the first time after the attack when she couldn’t escape a state of anxiety. Such episodes became part of a scale that the team itself did not expect.

“Friends of Israel” also supports Matanya Farm — a place where recovery programs for military personnel and survivors are held. They organize therapeutic sessions and outdoor programs. The project has already received approval from the Ministry of Defense, which expands its capabilities.

In two years, the organization has grown from an initiative of a few friends into a force that meets real needs — from equipment to mental support. And although the work remains challenging, the participants themselves acknowledge that it gives a sense of purpose. They plan to continue, strengthen programs, and expand assistance to those who have experienced trauma and need recovery. We will continue to follow this story and report on its development on the platform NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency.