Refugees are pouring out of Syria into Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and even Iraq– but not to Israel. Why isn’t more made of this failure of charity? Of course there are reasons, Israel’s alienation from its neighbors. But what kind of reflection is it on Israel that it has such relations that it cannot extend a hand?

Meantime, the LA Times reports that Israel gives the least to developing countries among the 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (along with two other countries). “Israel gives one-tenth of the U.N.’s target rate.” A tiny percentage of its charity goes to international relief, compared to 5 percent in the U.S. and nearly 50 percent in Belgium.

Times reporter Edmund Sanders conducted an interview with Hillel Schmid of the Hebrew University center for the study of philanthropy. Some excerpts: