Launching emergency response
When crisis struck Israel on October 7th, entrepreneur Jordan Fried transformed his private philanthropic approach into large-scale humanitarian action, orchestrating multiple emergency flights and delivering crucial aid to affected communities. The initiative marked a significant departure from his usual approach to charitable giving, which he describes as traditionally private and unnamed.
“I was raised in a way that you don’t talk about what you’re giving, you do it very privately, and the best form of giving is when your name’s not attached to it,” Fried explains. However, the scale of the crisis demanded a more public response.
The catalyst came when Fried received an urgent call from an Israeli friend stranded in San Francisco, unable to return home due to canceled commercial flights. As major carriers including American, Delta, and United suspended their Israel routes, countless others found themselves in similar situations. What began as helping one person quickly evolved into a major relief operation.
“I ended up chartering an Airbus A330, a huge, massive commercial plane with two aisles,” Fried recounts. Setting up operations from a Beverly Hills hotel, he began coordinating assistance for thousands of Israeli-Americans who needed to return home—including soldiers rejoining their units, families attending funerals, and parents of hostages.
Coordinating aid and transport
The situation’s urgency became apparent as Fried encountered increasingly desperate scenarios. “We had mothers that were trying to go to a funeral of a cousin. We had someone whose child was a hostage that was trying to get back… People who wanted to send breast milk for a baby who lost both of their parents, like a new orphan baby. Just these crazy, crazy, crazy stories,” he recalls.
Within days, Fried’s team had assembled 17 tons of cargo including helmets, vests, and essential supplies for communities heavily impacted by the attacks. The operation gained national attention, featured on both Fox News, CNN, and Anderson Cooper, though Fried emphasizes that publicity wasn’t the goal.
Despite having a wife seven months pregnant at home, Fried personally oversaw every aspect of the missions. “I did every aspect of this flight from the cargo list to getting bills of lading for all the cargo. I stood behind the counter at LAX and hand-wrote tickets for people to get past TSA to get on the plane,” he recalls. Without even packing a suitcase, he boarded the first flight to Israel to ensure smooth cargo clearance through customs before returning to organize subsequent missions.
Expanding impact through partnership
The success of the initial flight led to three more, ultimately helping thousands return to Israel. The effort evolved into an organization called Israel Friends, partnering with Ukraine Friends, a nonprofit that had previous experience in crisis response evacuating refugees from Ukraine to Europe.
The mission continues as hundreds of thousands remain displaced, particularly in northern Israel, due to ongoing security threats. “The soldiers are sent into Lebanon not planning on being there for this long,” Fried explains. “They’re sleeping, freezing. The Israeli army, had actually given a lot of its equipment to Ukraine that they had so little left. They didn’t expect a war to break out when it did.”
Personal motivation and philanthropic philosophy
For Fried, whose grandfather survived the Holocaust and later fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, the motivation was deeply personal. “Who am I if I don’t do it now?” he reflects. “I knew my sons would ask me one day, ‘Dad, what did you do on October 7th when war broke out?’ And I wanted to be able to say, I did something. I didn’t stand still. I went to help my people.”
This humanitarian response aligns with Fried’s broader philosophy about wealth and purpose. “Making money is not fulfilling. Helping people is where the fulfillment truly comes from,” he asserts. “The Giving Pledge is beautiful. Any amount of money I make in this lifetime, I plan on giving most of it away. It’s just if you’re in a position to help, you should help.”
While acknowledging the tragedy of all loss of life in the conflict, Fried’s primary motivation was addressing the immediate humanitarian need he witnessed. “My motive was to just try to stand in solidarity with a group of people who I could feel felt so alone,” he explains. The impact of each successful mission only strengthened his resolve: “With every trip we could make, it just meant such a big impact that became addicting… Why else are we here? I think Tony Robbins does it a lot, but the secret to living is giving really.”
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