On a recent day, at its main headquarters at a Tel Aviv convention center, several hundred volunteers worked on their computers and phones, using an internal app to match requests for aid and to figure out how to ship supplies to where they are needed. This is a civilian “war room,” effectively operating like a high-tech company.
It is also providing volunteers a sense of belonging and a way to serve their country — almost in spite of the current government, which they oppose. About 15,000 people a day across Israel offer help to Brothers in Arms, the organizers said.
Eden Zigo, 32, works for a cybersecurity company. When the war started, she said, “I was in a panic and I was looking for things to do, to help somehow.” She and her sister started helping the group by contributing food.
Another volunteer, Chen Benoliel, 34, a product manager, said, “It was important to be part of the national effort to do something.”
Ms. Benoliel was in Egypt, on vacation in the Sinai, when Hamas attacked, and she said that she had been afraid to return home. “I’ve never felt afraid before to be in Israel, never,” she said. “But I can’t sit at home and cry and watch TV.”
Eyal Naveh, 47, is one of the founders of Brothers in Arms. He is a veteran who served five years with Sayeret Matkal, an Israeli Special Forces unit in which Mr. Netanyahu also served.
When the government announced the legislation to overhaul the courts, Mr. Naveh considered it a “judicial coup,” he said in an interview. With fellow reservists, he quickly decided to fight the changes. “We want a Jewish and democratic state for generations to come,” he said.
