Ezrat Achim (Beit Shemesh)

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Israeli medical-aid and welfare charity in Beit Shemesh which has raised funds to equip Israeli soldiers


Ezrat Achim for Mutual Aid, Beit Shemesh

Logo Ezrat Achim logo.png
Type Israeli registered non-profit association (amuta)
Founder(s) Avraham Kopp
Registration ID Amuta 580435717
Headquarters HaNavi Amos 1, Beit Shemesh, Israel
Area served Beit Shemesh and Israel
Key people Avraham Kopp (chair)
Website eza.org.il (formerly ezratachim.com)


Ezrat Achim for Mutual Aid, Beit Shemesh (Hebrew: עזרת אחים לעזרה הדדית, בית שמש; usually Ezrat Achim, "Brothers Helping Brothers") is an Israeli registered non-profit association (amuta number 580435717) based in Beit Shemesh. It runs a free medical-equipment loan centre, ambulances, transport to hospitals, a meals service and services for people with special needs.[1][2] During Israel's genocide in Gaza it raised money to supply Israeli soldiers, including, according to a complaint reported by Middle East Eye, drones, protective gear and gunlights. In 2024 the Charity Commission opened a regulatory compliance case into the UK fundraising platform Achisomoch Aid Company Limited over its services to the charity.[3]

History

According to its own account and that of the US donor fund P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Ezrat Achim was founded in 1997 by Avraham Kopp of Beit Shemesh, who began lending medical equipment from the storeroom of his flat.[4][5] The organisation's site describes Kopp as "a trained paramedic and local head of ZAKA".[4] The association was registered in 2005, the year its current Hebrew site gives as its founding.[1][6]

Activities

Its registered objects include relief, financial assistance and medical care for the sick and needy; volunteer assistance, relief and rescue; ambulance services; lending medical equipment; help for people with disabilities; and help with the absorption of new immigrants.[1] The organisation describes a 200 square metre centre with a warehouse of medical equipment lent free of charge, weekend clinics, transport to hospitals, a meals-on-wheels service, an after-school special-needs centre and a home-safety project.[4] Its meals division cooks daily meals delivered to the sick, the elderly and new mothers in all neighbourhoods of Beit Shemesh.[7] It is building a new centre that is to include an emergency response unit and what it calls Israel's first national palliative care centre.[8]

Support for the Israeli military

After 7 October 2023 the organisation set up an emergency centre. On 13 October 2023 the Jewish Chronicle listed it among causes to support, saying that the group was "providing cooked meals, toiletries, clothing, and food for soldiers throughout the country".[9] Its appeal, reproduced in the Jewish Chronicle, said that "Cooked meals, toiletries, clothing, and food are being sent to soldiers throughout the country" and that its ambulances were evacuating families.[10] Its CauseMatch donation page says it is "supporting soldiers and families on the front lines", that "Our ambulances are in the South treating the wounded" and that "hot meals, food and supplies are being delivered to army bases".[11] Its own site says its emergency division works "in close cooperation with the security forces" and gives "immediate support to soldiers", evacuees and families.[12] Its director of donor relations told The Media Line in December 2023 that it was cooking and delivering 2,500 meals a day for displaced families.[13]

According to the complaint reported by Middle East Eye in September 2024, an Ezrat Achim fundraising page on causematch.com, to support "IDF soldiers and families on the frontlines", said donations would buy equipment including drones, protective gear, gunlights and other items "according to specific daily requests we receive from commanders and individual soldiers". Middle East Eye also found an Ezrat Achim page asking for "tactical gear" including "bullet proof vests and helmets, as well as tactical uniforms" for soldiers in the Gush Etzion area, which Middle East Eye described as an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. The pages appeared to have been amended on the day of publication to remove details of the equipment.[3] The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) said that funds raised through Achisomoch "have been used to purchase military equipment, including drones, gun lights, and pocketknives for Israeli soldiers".[14] As of October 2026 its main CauseMatch campaign showed $1,025,502 raised towards a $1,250,000 goal, saying "The war has gone on for so much longer than we had hoped".[15]

Achisomoch case

The ICJP complained to the Charity Commission that Achisomoch Aid Company Limited (AAC), a London-based platform for Jewish charitable giving, provided fundraising services to Ezrat Achim. The complaint said the activities of Ezrat Achim, and AAC's services to it, may amount to "complicity in war crimes". On 4 September 2024 the Commission confirmed that it had "opened a regulatory compliance case to assess concerns raised with us about Achisomoch Aid Company, and its fundraising". AAC has described its compliance procedures as "gold standard"; neither AAC nor Ezrat Achim responded to Middle East Eye.[3] Third Sector also reported the case.[16] In September 2025 the ICJP said that the response, "or lack of", raised questions about the effectiveness of regulatory oversight.[14] No published outcome of the case was found.

The body named in the case is identified as this Beit Shemesh association because the ICJP cites the ezratachim.com "About Us" page, which names Avraham Kopp of Beit Shemesh as founder, and because the CauseMatch campaign gives an ezratachim.com contact address.[14][4][15]

Funding from UK charities

The UK charity MyIsrael (charity 1121960) recorded spending from a restricted fund named "Ezrat Achim": £7,500 in the year to 31 March 2018, £871 in 2020, £3,665 in 2022 and £10,473 in 2023, £22,509 in all. In 2023 the whole sum was transferred into the fund from MyIsrael's general "MI Campaigns" fund. A further £9,800 has been reported for April–December 2019, but MyIsrael's accounts for that period do not break spending down by fund.[17][18] MyIsrael's accounts describe the fund as "Dedicated to providing weekly food assistance" and give no Israeli registration number or address,[17] so it is not confirmed that the payee is this association, though the description fits its meals service. Several Israeli associations share the name (see Ezrat Achim).

People

Officers and staff named in public sources
Name Role Source
Avraham Kopp Founder (1997); chair [4][6]
Rivky Tyberg Director of donor relations (2023) [13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Israelgives, Ezrat Achim for Mutual Aid, Beit Shemesh (Registered Association) Israelgives, accessed 22 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Ezrat Achim, Transparency eza.org.il, accessed 22 October 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Simon Hooper, UK: Jewish charity under scrutiny over donations for Israeli soldiers Middle East Eye, 4 September 2024, accessed 22 October 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Ezrat Achim, About Us ezratachim.com (archived copy), accessed 22 October 2026.
  5. ↑ P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, Ezrat Achim P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, accessed 22 October 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ezrat Achim, אודות (About) eza.org.il, accessed 22 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Ezrat Achim, מערך מזון (Food service) eza.org.il, accessed 22 October 2026.
  8. ↑ Ezrat Achim, Home eza.org.il, accessed 22 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Daniel Ben-David, "How you can help Israel: The causes to support", Jewish Chronicle, 13 October 2023, p. 32.
  10. ↑ JC Reporter, Israel-Hamas War: What can I do to help? Jewish Chronicle, 18 October 2023, accessed 22 October 2026.
  11. ↑ Ezrat Achim, Ezrat Achim CauseMatch, accessed 22 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Ezrat Achim, חירום (Emergency) eza.org.il, accessed 22 October 2026 (translated from Hebrew).
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lana Ikelan, For both Israelis, Palestinians, NGOs offer essential support during war Jerusalem Post (The Media Line), 7 December 2023, accessed 22 October 2026.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, UK Charity Complicity in Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine ICJP, Briefing 410, September 2025, accessed 22 October 2026.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ezrat Achim, Ezrat Achim CauseMatch, accessed 22 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Emily Harle, Regulator probes charity over complaint that alleges it assisted with donations to Israeli soldiers Third Sector, 10 September 2024 (sign-in required).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 My Israel, Accounts, year ended 31 March 2019 UK Government Web Archive, accessed 22 October 2026.
  18. ↑ Charity Commission, MyIsrael (1121960): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities, accounts for 2021, 2022 and 2023, notes on restricted funds, accessed 22 October 2026.
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