When Joel Chernoff went to sleep in Israel on October 6 last year, he woke up in war.

As executive director of the Joseph Project International, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations supporting the Jewish state, Chernoff immediately got to work.

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In the months since the terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel, JPI has provided the country with tens of thousands of meals, equipment for the Israeli military, and other resources. But there is one major threat to Israel that receives little media coverage: the possibility of an attack on the country's electrical grid.

This concern has been heightened by the looming threat of war with Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah, as our recent reports show. In late June, a senior government energy official, Shaul Goldstein, claimed – with some pushback – that a cyberattack on Israel’s power grid could cripple the small country in a matter of days, according to The Times of Israel.

It is important to note that there are some reports suggesting that Iran has supplied Hezbollah with electromagnetic pulse weapons, or EMPs. These alleged weapons, if used, could “destroy all communications systems, including the power infrastructure,” according to the Israeli-Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida was reported after an unnamed Iranian source learned about it.

If that were to happen, such an attack could potentially “incapacitate” the country, Chernoff told CBN News.

WATCH our entire conversation with Chernoff below:

“That threat has been contained – it has been externalized – and that's why the Joseph Project International … has scaled up its operations and purchased generators that can be placed across the country … so that there is a Plan B for many of these communities across the country,” he explained, noting that having generators at key locations across Israel would help “keep operations going” if a cyberattack occurred.

Each generator costs about $10,000 and can support “vital services,” Chernoff added, explaining that JPI has a strategically located warehouse in Jerusalem and an extensive network of delivery vehicles across the country ready to distribute generators and other supplies as needed.

As a humanitarian organization with messianic interests, the Joseph Project International is concerned with more than just meeting the material needs of Israelis. Chernoff said the JPI has become a supplier of goods and resources to messianic groups in the country.

He further explained that although there are strict laws against proselytizing in Israel, the workers of these organizations are not afraid to preach the gospel when asked.

“People ask, and when they ask, it is not considered proselytizing,” he said. “If someone asks us about [our faith]we share. As a result, many, many people have come to faith – not directly as a result of our sharing, but perhaps [because] from the people on the streets there in Israel.”

“The important thing is that God has said to us, 'Lay your shoulders on the national burden of poverty,' which is a huge problem in Israel and has been exacerbated by COVID and this war,” Chernoff said. “We are there to meet needs and show our people the compassionate heart of the Messiah, and if they ask us for it, then we share. But other than that, we are there to open our hearts to serve – that's the most important thing – and we do this within the law and we do this for the honor and glory of the God of Israel and the Messiah, Yeshua.”

Given the possibility of another attack on Israel, the help of organizations like JPI is welcome to the Jewish people. Chernoff described the Jewish people as “united” in doing what is necessary to survive.

“It seems like the world is ganging up on Israel – they don't want Israel to win; they want the terrorists to survive,” he said. “Israel really can't live with the terrorists on its border anymore and it's a really difficult situation politically. It shouldn't be that way, but it is.”

Despite all the uncertainty, Chernoff is hopeful about Israel’s future because he trusts what the Holy Scriptures say about the Jewish state, God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6).

He referred to Isaiah 54:17, which reads in part: “No weapon formed against you will prosper,” referring to Israel and more broadly the Christian church.[Noweaponthatisfashionedagainstyoushallsucceed”referringtoIsraelandmorebroadlytheChristianchurch[Noweaponthatisfashionedagainstyoushallsucceed” referringtoIsrael andmorebroadlytheChristianchurch

“Yes, it's a difficult road,” Chernoff said. “Our people on the ground feel that they are increasingly alone in the world, apart from the support of evangelical Christians around the world and especially in the United States. They feel that support and are grateful for it.”

At the same time, however, Chernoff said that Israelis felt to some extent abandoned by the administration of President Joe Biden. He echoed the words of several Republican lawmakers and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it a “slow move” in providing the necessary resources.

“This will be a long-term project,” he explained, referring to the defeat of the terrorist groups that seek to destroy the Jewish nation. “And the State of Israel needs the support of the United States to actually be able to continue the war. But even if they don't get the support of the United States, they have God's support, and that is the most important thing.”

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