Meeting Spiderman, traveling to Japan, and visiting the president of the United States in the Oval Office are all wishes that have been made by children facing life-threatening illnesses. And the Make-a-Wish Foundation is a global organization dedicated to granting such wishes.
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Make-a-Wish Israel co-founder Denise Bar-Aharon and journalist Yoseph Haddad, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 31, 2024.
(Photo: The Media Line)
The Israeli branch of the organization, founded almost three decades ago by Denise and Avi Bar-Aharon, is extending its reach and granting wishes to children who were among the victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack.
“Our children who are facing such difficulties, when they receive a wish, their tears turn into smiles,” Denise Bar-Aharon, co-founder of the local organization, told The Media Line.
Avi Bar-Aharon, co-founder of Make-a-Wish Israel spoke to The Media Line and explained that the idea behind granting wishes is to bring these children joy, hope, and strength during a very critical period of their lives.
Make-a-Wish Israel has received help throughout the years from dozens of people, philanthropists, and celebrities alike, to grant wishes with no limits. Since its establishment, Make-a-Wish Israel has granted wishes to over 5,000 children. After Oct. 7, a whole new group of children was added to the list.
Now, Make-a-Wish Israel is recruiting more celebrities and more people to help make the wishes of the children come true.
Famous Israeli pop artist Noa Kirel is one of the organization’s ambassadors and has helped them grant dozens of wishes. “So many stories, so many incredible kids that I have met, so thank you [Denise Bar-Aharon] for the opportunity. … It is so crazy that I have this power to give to those children and I’m always with you guys so it’s really an honor for me to be here today and to be part of Make-a-Wish,” she told The Media Line at the unveiling ceremony for Make-A-Wish Israel’s newest ambassadors.
Static, another globally recognized Israeli artist and Make-a-Wish Israel ambassador, said that helping grant wishes to these children is one of the most important aspects of his job. “Even though I’m used to being on stages with tens of thousands of people, still, being able to make a child that is going through everything they are going through happy for a few minutes just by talking to them, it always feels like a superpower to me,” he told The Media Line.
Yoseph Haddad, an Israeli-Arab journalist who has made a name for himself internationally by defending Israel abroad and promoting Jewish-Arab partnerships within Israel, received the Make-a-Wish Israel ambassador title, too.
Haddad said that Make-a-Wish Israel is evidence of the fact that there is no apartheid in Israel. “The fact is that we treat everyone as equal, whether Arab or Jew, and this foundation has already granted wishes for Arabs and Jews,” he told The Media Line.
He noted that over 33% of the wish kids are Arab, either Christian or Muslim. “The Arabs are 20% of the population, which means that Make-a-Wish Israel manages to exceed even that in terms of percentage,” Haddad continued.
Canadian Israeli philanthropist Sylvan Adams, who hosted the unveiling ceremony at his private residence in Tel Aviv on Sunday, was also appointed as an ambassador of global goodwill. He has granted 120 wishes this year for children who survived the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
“We try to grant wishes, and it has been proven that this is therapeutically beneficial to their recovery. Hopefully, with the wishes that this organization is granting, we will see children’s return to health much quicker,” Adams told The Media Line.
Itay Cohen, who was shot by terrorists on Oct. 7, is one of Adam’s wish kids.
“I got bullet fragments all over my face and a bullet in my head; it seems that it [the bullet] hit something beforehand and lost some of its power, and bullet fragments in my eye from which I lost my sight in my right eye,” Cohen told The Media Line
In addition to granting Cohen his wish, which was to practice Wind, a type of surfing, he was also presented with a special gift by Adams, who also shares Cohen’s love for cycling. “As a wish, I presented him—his name is Itay Cohen—and I present him with my own personal bicycle,” said Adams.
Rotem Kalderon a survivor of cancer, was previously granted a wish by the organization about two years ago when he received tools for making jewelry. Kalderon is once again a victim. This time, a victim of terror.
“On October 7, my family was kidnapped, my father, my little brother and my little sister; and my grandma and my cousin were murdered. My father is still there,” he told The Media Line, adding that experiencing the horrors of Hamas’ terror attack has been more difficult than overcoming cancer.
Make-a-Wish Israel is hoping to help bring a little light to the country in these difficult times. “We are in a very difficult time for the country, and this is one way to bring ourselves together and to try to do some good and begin the healing that the country is facing,” Adams said.
“As an Israeli artist in one of the hardest times that Israel has ever seen, and definitely since I was born, I feel like Make-a-Wish is a speck of light in the darkness,” Static added.