A flooded neighborhood in southeastern Texas following Hurricane Harvey. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey, the Israeli government is planning to provide $1 million in emergency aid to the Houston Jewish community, the Diaspora Affairs Ministry announced on Monday.

“The Jewish state is measured by its response when our brothers around the world are in crisis,” Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday. “The city of Houston was hurt badly last week, and the Jewish community, 70% of which lived in the flooded neighborhoods, was hit hard. Schools and synagogues were flooded and can’t be used. The old-age home and JCC were damaged, and hundreds of families will remain homeless.”

”From talks we’ve had over the past week with the heads of the community and Israel’s Consul General, we learned the damage is vast and the rehabilitation will take years,” Bennett continued. “For years the Jewish communities stood by Israel when it needed their help. Now it is our turn to stand by Houston’s Jewish community.”

According to the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the money — to be disbursed by the Israeli Consulate in Houston — is earmarked to “help repair and restore the communal infrastructure (schools, synagogues and JCC) which are not funded or supported by the state.”