AFINS Tribute Event

Online Auction

The American Friends of Israel Navy SEALs (AFINS) Evening of Tribute is the signature annual fundraiser in support of the warriors, alumni and families of Israel's elite naval Commando unit, Shayetet-13. The funds raised will support SEAL-led social impact programs and Jewish continuity, professional and personal development programs, college scholarships, and services for the injured and the families of fallen soldiers.

Please join us TONIGHT, Thursday, September 10th at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT to recognize the bravery and sacrifice of these elite fighters and their families. Read on below for ways to support and an introduction to the Unit and to AFINS.

**Introduction to Shayetet-13, Israel's Navy SEALs:**

About the Unit and American Friends of Israel Navy SEALs (AFINS)

There are 20,000 candidates each year for Shayetet-13, Israel's Navy SEALs. Ultimately, 40 or fewer candidates make it through selection and training and become SEALs. The acceptance rate is 0.2%. SEALs undergo the IDF's most grueling trainng and intensive, active service experience. The process and evaluation criteria are such that SEALs are selected not necessarily for speed and strength but for selflessness and integrity. They give at least two more years of service than nearly every other unit in the IDF.

American Friends of Israel Navy SEALs (AFINS) was founded on the premise that Israel's Navy SEALs can continue leveraging SEAL leadership skills and values in life after active service and so strengthen Israeli society and the broader Jewish community IF provided the right tools and support.

AFINS, along with its Israel-based partner, provides services in three areas:

1) SEAL safety net for the SEALs and their families, meeting the needs of the injured and bereaved throughout their lives and embracing them in the alumni community
2) professional and personal development for Israel Navy SEALs and support personnel beginning during their active service and throughout their lives
3) SEAL Social Impact programming, providing the Unit's alumni with a platform for volunteerism, benefiting broader Israeli society while providing them a continued sense of "mission" and outlet for service

Both in serving the SEALs and in serving others through SEAL volunteerism, AFINS plugs a gap in Israeli governmental support.

COVID-19 ACTIVITY

350 Israel Navy SEAL alumni volunteer during quarantine

Within days of the quarantine taking effect in Israel this past March, our Israel-based colleagues had divided the country into 11 regions and engaged 350 SEAL alumni as volunteers across Israel,. The Foundation provided a platform for SEAL alumni to accept and complete tasks from their local municipality, delivering food and medicine to those most in-need and most vulnerable, including to Holocaust survivors. Jerusalem's mayor called AFINS' Israeli-partner's CEO on Passover Eve to personally thank him for the foundation's service.