Israel is on the front line whenever humanitarian aid is required, anywhere in the world, and regardless the country's political approach. This fact is taken for granted in such a way that iniquitous regimes as the one ruling over Iran declared that they would not accept Israeli help after the earthquake destroyed the city of Bam, being certain that Israel would have offerred the best quality of humanitarian aid to the victims.

Most of the international Arab humanitarian organizations are based in the West and not in the Arab countries, otherwise, they work only at a national level or at most within the Arab World, but rarely outside. As a general feature, those operating in an international context are characterized by being directed only to Arab or muslim people, not to everybody, and their main goal, either open or hidden, is promoting the islamic religion besides humanitarian aid, as shown by the following examples.

IsraAID is a coordinating body of Israeli and Jewish non governmental organizations and other interested parties based in Israel that are active in development and relief work and are concerned about global issues. IsraAID members provide humanitarian aid worldwide to people in need, regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, age and disabilities.

Mashav, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Center for International Cooperation, carries on many projects for helping other countries' development. Mashav has been present with emergency units, medical equipment, housing assistance, food, etc. in many national disasters happened worldwide, as the earthquakes in Armenia, Georgia and Turkey, volcano eruption in Congo, devastating storms in the Pacific Ocean, floods in Czech Republic, natural disasters and accidents in South America, etc.

International Arab Charity -based in London- is actually an organization for Arabs in the West, and aiming at promoting sympathetic feelings towards Arabs from other peoples, as they claim in their own website:
Holding events and functions that promote Arab culture.
Holding lectures and talks relating to Arab issues as part of the educational program.
Supporting the school dedicated to teaching Arabic language to children.
To promote Arab films in London, it is more important than ever for Westerners to gain a sympathetic insight into the Arab mind.
It seems a cultural association rather than a charitable one, yet, some of their activities do qualify as humanitarian, although they are directed only to Arab people:
Working to help Palestinian amputees in the camps in Lebanon. There is a dire need for centralised clinics designed purposely to help them.
Discussion with organizations capable of effectively administering funds in Iraq as soon as the situation stabilizes. Projects include mental health rehabilitation to help those with physical and psychological trauma.

Save A Child's Heart is one of the largest undertakings in the world providing urgently needed pediatric heart surgery and follow-up care for children from Third World and developing countries. All children, regardless of sex, ethnicity, religion, or financial consideration receive the best possible care that modern medicine has to offer. Save A Child's Heart has a full outreach program to train medical personnel in other countries, enabling them to provide needed treatment in their own environment. The program brings doctors and nurses to the Save A Child's Heart center in Israel for in-depth post-graduate training in all facets of pediatric cardiology. Until medical centres are opened in those countries, children with congenital heart problems are brought to Israel for surgery and other heart related care.

Latet is an Israeli humanitarian aid organization with the aim of providing assistance to needy populations around the world, based on a universal and egalitarian platform and by mobilizing the civilian society in Israel toward involvement in the humanitarian effort. The Organization aims at increasing social awareness and values of mutual responsibility and giving. Latet is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit organization that is funded on donations alone.

The Shalom Club is present in many countries for humanitarian aid in poor areas, with many kinds of activities: reconstruction of damaged buildings of social interest (schools, hospitals, etc.), organizing medical camps, courses, training, etc. in depressed areas, providing food and clothing, etc.

International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO), based in Kuwait, in the same way, is directed to muslims and aims at promoting the islamic religion, as they declare in their website as their objectives:
Helping charitable institutions in the Asian Continent in order to guarantee care and welfare for the poor, orphans and the needy.
Providing humanitarian aid, educational, and social services projects.
Conducting research and detailed studies of the geographic, social, and cultural conditions of muslims in Asia.
Cooperating and coordinating with other organizations having similar interests as the IICO.
Increasing the public awareness of problems that muslim peoples in Asia are facing.
Building new mosques and renovating the old ones.
Building schools that give due attention to spiritual education.
Spreading islamic awareness by cultural activities on the radio and television as well as in the press and other publications, with the help of the religious authorities.
Teaching of the qur'an.
Translation of Arabic movies and islamic books into the local languages or into Russian.
Sponsoring groups to study in islamic universities in Egypt.
Reinforcing the relationships through visits, youth camps, conferences and seminars.
Drilling water wells.
Carrying out humanitarian aid projects such as building wooden houses for the Kirghiz people in case of earthquakes.
Relief programs to help the Azerbaidjani refugees.
It is evident that activities such as building mosques, teaching the qur'an or spreading religious beliefs, which are over-emphasized, cannot be considered humanitarian aid. The aims of this organization are an example of how much concerned they are with the religious matter instead of true, unconditional charity for any person in need of assistance.

After the great tsunami in the Indian Ocean devastated several countries of Southern Asia by the end of 2004, Israel was among the first Nations that helped:
Although a situation in which muslims would aid Israel if hypothetically struck by natural disaster is an absolute impossibility, the reverse is a verified fact. Indonesia, the world's most populous muslim country, which has no diplomatic relations with Israel, received:
On 12th January, 75 tons of equipment, including the following:
16 tons of baby food donated by the Remedia and Materna companies.
30 tons of rice, flour, water, sugar and grains donated by the Koach Latet organization as well as the Sugat and Osem companies.
5 tons of plastic sheeting donated by Hovav Plastica and Haogenplast.
20 tons of medicine produced by Teva Pharmaceuticals, donated through the Latet organization.
A water purification system valued at $20,000 produced by the Netafim manufacturer, donated by Shari Arison Glazer and the Shira Hadasha Congregation, in Jerusalem. The manufacturer Netafim also donated a second system.
A contribution of $300,000 of the Sacta-Rashi Foundation. Mark Solomon and the Friends of Yemin Orde Wingate Youth Village covered the cost of the flight.
The above contribution together with that of Koach Latet, also provided ten communications networks produced by Gilat Satellite Networks, which provided two additional networks.
El Al provided the plane at minimal cost, and the Defense Ministry and Maman provided quick, efficient and free service at the airport.

In the same circumstances, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Thailand and Ceylon received from Israel:
Thailand:
3,300 body bags, 500 gas masks and special protective suits for the disaster areas provided by the Zaka Rescue and Identification team.
A medical delegation of doctors and nurses.
Assistance in the identification of bodies - A delegation the Zaka Rescue and Identification unit was dispatched to Thailand, four days after the tsunami disaster hit the country.
The Remedia Company donated 3 tons of baby food, which arrived on January 6th.
2 tons of blankets and clothes arrived on January 9th.
5 tons of medicines donated by Teva Pharmaceuticals were dispatched courtesy of the El Al airline, and arrived on January 10th.
Medicine valued at $600,000 was donated on behalf of the State of Israel. The medicine arrived on January 10th.

Sri Lanka:
A consignment of medical equipment valued at $60,000.
An emergency delegation of medical personnel.
On the initiative of the IDF and the Foreign Ministry, a plane carrying 82 tons of food, medical equipment and other humanitarian assistance was dispatched.
Following a request from the Ceylon Government regarding the provision of psychological support, a delegation composed of five doctors and social workers set out for Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 9th, for providing guidance to professionals working with the population in the disaster areas.
A plane carrying 10 tons of emergency equipment arrived in Sri Lanka on January 10th, that included equipment for emergency food kitchens as well as food supplies. The kitchens are able to provide 4000 hot meals a day. It was a donation given by the United Kibbutz Movement.
Magen David Adom donated a mobile clinic.
Magen David Adom arranged to send medical relief to the tsunami victims, sending a delegation of medical personnel.
The United Kibbutz Movement dispatched a delegation to oversee a feeding station. The team provided also logistical and humanitarian assistance.
An umbrella organization called Israel Campaign for South East Asia Disaster Relief, has been established to oversee the assistance to the tsunami victims which includes 45 organizations. It established donation points throughout Israel, and has collected hundreds of tons of food and humanitarian supplies.

Coptic Orphans -based in the USA- is an international organization of assistance to disadvantaged children in Egypt through volunteer networks: especially orphans, girls, and children with disabilities. As the name indicates, it is a Christian organization.
Some of their activities are:
To enable orphan children to break the cycle of poverty through the Not Alone program.
To encourage self-esteem in girls at risk of dropping out of school, through interactive programs and personal mentoring.
Building cultural bridges between Egypt and the West through summer service trips.
Supporting education, health, and practical training of disabled, orphaned and other disadvantaged children through partnership projects.

Israel has engaged also humanitarian projects for Arab countries. One of the most favored states is Jordan:
In 2000, Israel built and fully equipped a state-of-the art Intensive Care Unit in the Red Crescent Hospital in Amman, which serves the poorest population of the capital. The project included full training of all ICU staff.
Mashav operates a farm in the Karak region for intensive sheeps milk production and processing, introducing the advanced Awassi sheep to the country which provide approximately four times the milk yields of indigenous sheep. The project includes hundreds of sheep, a milking parlor and cutting-edge dairy for the production of yoghurts and cheeses. In addition, the project's sheep have been used to upgrade local flocks through breeding activities.
Mashav has a beekeeping demonstration and research project in Irbid, Jordan. Israel sponsors an ongoing program of cross border cooperation, training and transfer of agricultural technology between Kibbutz Yotvata and farmers in the regions of Rahma and Umm-Mutlak.
Mashav trains many Jordanians annually in courses held in Israel in fields ranging from management of small enterprises to sustainable eco-friendly agricultural methods.

Another Arab League member country receiving humanitarian aid from Israel is Mauritania. The Cancer Treatment Center in Nouakchott was entirely built by Israel, including donation of the facility and all necessary medical technology as well as extensive training for staff members.

A terrible massacre that is purposely neglected by the UNO and the international media is the genocide in Darfur. Hundreds of victims have found in Israel the safe haven for them. Sudanese refugees crossed the desert through Egypt, their fellow Arab country, in which they were mistreated and risked to be killed, until they reached Israel. They received accommodation in Eilat and were given work and schooling for their children in the city. Many of them would be even granted Israeli citizenship, as they have remained without official nationality. No Arab charity organization has done anything for the Darfur victims.

During 2003/2004, about 200,000 Sudanese refugees fleeing the state-led terror campaign in Darfur sought shelter in Chad. In order to help these refugees, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and IsraAID with B'nai B'rith and Ve'ahavta, launched the Initiative for Sudanese Refugees in Chad. Their extensive program is developed in two community centres, providing psychological assistance, enabling the refugees to overcome the situation, training some community members to become humanitarian aid leaders among their own people, establishing activities for children, etc. A particular issue that HIAS is committed with is the abolition of clitoral excision. Through appropriate education, this practise is declining within the camps and hundreds of girls are being saved from this ordeal.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) is the oldest organization in the word assisting refugees and immigrants, founded in New York in 1881. There are main offices in Tel Aviv, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Rome and Geneva. Among the thousads of people helped by HIAS, many of them have become famous personalities in many fields: writers, artists, politicians, etc. See a list of them here.

In May 2008, the cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar. Even though the dictatorship has restricted the access to humanitarian organizations, IsraAID and Latet were there with their workers, giving as much assistance as it was possible and demanding from the local authorities to allow them to reach the population.

In January 2010, a fierce earthquake in Haiti has almost completely destroyed the capital city and surrounding area. The IDF settled in Port-au-Prince the most effective field hospital, the only one equipped with all that is required for complex surgical operations. Doctors from various missions send the patients needing difficult surgery to Israel's makeshift hospital. Israel established also a complete communication network through the Amos satellites, including phone line and wireless Internet access. This system allows video conference during operations to give field surgeons the ability to consult with experts in Israel, so that they can even watch the surgeries in Israel as they occur in Haiti.

In March 2011, Japan suffered the worst earthquake in its history, followed by a tsunami, which caused thousands of victims and heavily damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in Japan's worst nuclear accident. The field hospital established by Israel was the first to be set up by any nation offering assistance. Israel sent IDF Medical Corps personnel, logistics teams, experts in the field of population management, Japanese translators, experts from the Committee of Atomic Energy, doctors specializing in different fields, nurses and paramedics, and several tons of medical equipment.

The international mass media are quite concerned with Israel, however, they seldom report the remarkable Israeli humanitarian effort in every emergency situation, anywhere in the world. They seem to be interested only in blaming Israel for exerting the legitimate right of self-defense and protection of the own citizens against terrorism. The vocation of tikkun olam (restoring the world) is considered a mission for Israel, it is part of the Jewish nature and education.