Israeli non-profit NATAN dedicated to changing lives in disaster zones – loving Israel's 'enemies'

Alice Miller, CEO of NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief, spoke with ALL ISRAEL NEWS about how her non-profit organization is changing lives in disaster-stricken countries – including Syria and Gaza – and the power of love to melt enmity.

“You know, I've just read something in the Bible not long ago,” Miller began, “before we move on to Gaza.” She had been reading Proverbs, and quoted the passage from memory: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs  25:21-22).

“I really understand this saying of love in the Bible, because what do you mean by 'you heap coals of fire upon his head?' By doing acts of love, you melt the person you are helping. That is what it's saying here. And I know that to be so true,” she said. “It's true to your immediate family, to your friends, to your neighbors, to everybody. But it's twofold.” 

A former aerospace engineer, Miller explained how caring for the enemies of Israel was an essential matter of the heart, and how she came to serve as the CEO of an organization committed to doing just that.

“I was VP in an Israeli startup company. 
I was actually responsible for constructing a system on the moon, and I remember I participated in a conference in Azerbaijan and I was on stage presenting the system we're going to build on the moon together with NASA,” Miller explained. “I remember coming back to my hotel… and I just burst out crying, and I said to myself, you know, like, what are you doing with your life?”

While building things on the moon in collaboration with NASA might seem like the peak of success, for Miller, that moment just brought the revelation that she had climbed to the top of the ladder only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall. She asked herself, “Why did you get a heart? Why did you get a body? What are you here on earth for?” Though she had become a household name in Israel for her pioneering accomplishments, Miller found herself longing to be involved in more humanitarian work. 

“What I want to do is to wake up every single morning, and to know that today I've done something to touch somebody's life, in a way that alleviates pain, or eases their journey in some way.” That was back in October 2023.

“Actually, that was on the 5th of October 2023. I came home on the 6th of October, and on the 7th of October, I 100% understood what I had to do.” She saw the hearts of people around her shutting down as the horrors became more apparent and the threat more real.

“When your life is threatened, you ask only one question: 'How can I save myself? How can I save my children? How can I save my family, my clan, my community, my country?' Your ability to see the other is diminished and I felt that this closing of the heart is something I do not want to partake in,” Miller told ALL ISRAEL NEWS. “I realized that I have to do something to be able to keep my heart continuously open.”

“Calcification. That is exactly what it's like. I think people did not realize their hearts were going through that process, you know? It's very subtle,” she said.

“I understood that my soul is calling in a different direction and that what I want to do is humanitarian aid, supporting people for only one reason, for the fact that they're in need. Not because they belong to my group. Not because I feel politically or ideologically that I need to support them, not because they're my family, not because they're my friends, but for the reason that they're in need and I have the capability to help. That is actually what led me to NATAN, because NATAN is such an organization,” she said, describing it as a “match made in heaven.”

The organization has a very small professional paid staff, just Miller and an operations officer. The rest of their workforce are volunteers. She said, “Everybody is in it for the good of doing good on earth… not for any other reason.”

NATAN currently serves people affected by disasters in Mozambique, Ukraine, Syria, Gaza and Israel.

“That's it right now. Five countries,” says Miller. “Our main bread and butter is disaster relief. The humanitarian disaster in the Middle East is second to none. 
You know, just think about it. You have Gaza, which is two million people living in tents for two years with rubble all around them. You have 700-800,000 refugees in Lebanon. 
You have 3.2 million refugees in Iran. Syria has had a civil war for the last 20 years… and NATAN is a really hands-on organization,” Miller explained.

“Gaza is a very special kind of operation just because we can't go there, you know? Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to send in medical volunteers,” she said, adding that she hopes to send hands-on staff into Gaza within a few months. “We're not allowed to actually go to these countries, so we work with partners and do whatever we can without physically being in a country.”

Working with Israeli health services such as Alyn Hospital in Jerusalem, NATAN provides life-changing equipment, such as splints and corsets, allowing children from war-torn countries to sit and walk again. “We take the measurements of the child, produce them here in Jerusalem, and send them into Syria with people we collaborate with,” Miller said.

While NATAN typically deploys medical professionals and social workers to tend to the physical and emotional needs of those suffering, the organization had not previously been involved in direct aid distribution. That changed when Miller learned of a woman in Gaza who had nothing to give her young daughter on the day of her first period. In response, NATO began raising funds for “dignity kits,” each containing four reusable pads designed to meet this specific need. “We've sent in 2000 dignity kits for a pilot stage of the program, and very soon we're sending in another shipment of 10,000,” adding, “We'll carry on doing this for as long as I can find funding.”

Together with their partner organization, Gaza Children Village, NATAN is working hard to make life more bearable for thousands of children in Gaza.

“They come to the academy in the morning. They receive hate-free schooling, they receive a hot meal from World Central Kitchen, and they receive medical treatment from NATAN Worldwide disaster relief,” Miller continued.

However, not everyone is in favor of this kind of love for enemy countries.

“I tell myself that pushback is extremely loud and the support is very, very subtle,” Miller said. “But I feel that there are many people who feel the same way as I do.”

The first donation for Gaza was from an Israeli Family Foundation, Miller said. “They said that the deeper the war in Gaza goes, the more they want to support Israeli organizations that are doing acts of compassion in Gaza. So that was really beautiful and it was a wonderful way to start this journey.”