Amaliah is an American-Jewish organization which helps Syrian refugees receive medical treatment in Israel.
Arutz Sheva spoke with Betsy Laikin, media director for Amaliah, at the Israeli American Council (IAC) conference being held in Washington.
The New York-based Amaliah is “the only organization working on the border of southern Syria and Israel,” explained Laikin.
“We coordinate with the IDF for our work, which includes bringing humanitarian aid into Syria and we also have been bringing buses of women and children from southern Syria into Israel for medical treatment,” she added.
The medical treatment includes a full check-up for the Syrians, most of whom had not been seen by a doctor in over five years.
“Some of the children who have more serious cases do stay longer in Israel, but for most of them it is a day trip where we take them in, get them treatment and then take them back,” said Laikin.
People are still surprised to hear that a Jewish American organization works with Syrians, “but our founder Moti Kahana has been doing work in Syria for the last five years, including bringing the last Syrian Jews out of Aleppo, and rescuing a lot of Judaica, so we’ve built a lot of relations with Syrians,” she continued.
The Syrians who enter Israel for treatment change their attitude towards Israel, said Laikin.
“We’re seeing complete changes in how the Syrian people are viewing Israel, who they’ve been taught for many years by [President Bashar Al-]Assad and his father that Israel is their biggest enemy, and they’re seeing that it’s not that way.”