Fact: More than 430 Israelis have been killed in the last 18 months of terror; more than 3,600 have been injured and the numbers are climbing daily.

Fact: 50,000 new immigrants have arrived in Israel since the beginning of the intifada in September 2000. Despite the violence, thousands of Argentinian Jews are projected to make aliyah over the next two years.

Fact: Israel’s tourism industry is expected to lose $2.6 billion in revenue between 2000 and 2002 and the Jerusalem economy has ground to a halt.

Fact: One out of every four Israelis of working age — or 1.1 million — is out of work in a country that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the western world (23.3 percent).

Fact: Critical social service funds, whose demand increases during traumatic times, are being diverted to security and defense.

With Israel facing one of its darkest periods since its founding in 1948, the Milwaukee Jewish community has announced its participation in a national campaign to provide immediate financial support for the country’s urgent needs.

The new fundraising effort, called the Israel Emergency Campaign, was announced Tuesday at the community-wide Yom HaZikaron ceremony.

The local effort, designed to reach all segments of the Jewish community, is being coordinated by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. Robert L. Habush will serve as chair. In launching the nationwide campaign, the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of North American Jewish federations, aims to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Now is the time to close ranks for Israel,” said Habush. “Whatever disagreements anyone might have over policy is overshadowed by real concerns about her very survival. As a young man, I witnessed prior generations step up during the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War to ensure Israel’s survival. In this very different type of war, our Jewish state is at risk again.

“Jews here in Milwaukee and across the country are being asked to help in this time of genuine emergency. Like our parents and grandparents before us, we must come to the fore and do the most important thing that we can do — provide funds to an economically devastated Israel so her people can carry on their lonely fight against an unrelenting enemy.

“I am honored to lead this effort as all our leaders of the past 50 years would have done under similar circumstances. To borrow an often repeated quote, ‘Failure is not an option.’”