Tag Archive for Lone Soldiers

| August 2, 2018
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158 volunteers from 18 countries arrive in Israel to volunteer for the IDF

Majority of the new IDF recruits, new immigrants and foreign volunteers, come from North America, followed by 43 volunteers from France, 16 from the UK.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM

 

IDF volunteers from 18 different countries arrived in Israel over this summer, the Defense Ministry’s Social Defense Branch announced Wednesday.

The 158 new recruits comprised of 120 male volunteers and 38 females, the majority from North America with 69 volunteers (45%) followed France with 43 volunteers (30%).

Gathering of the 158 volunteers from 18 different countries arrive in Israel to volunteer for the IDF. – Photo courtesy: Israel’s Defense Ministry

According to the Defense Ministry, the number of volunteers from Australia has “quadrupled” since last year with eight volunteers, and the number from Britain doubled with 16 volunteers this year. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| December 28, 2016
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72 new immigrants (Olim) from North America land in Israel

 

Among the 72 Olim that landed at Ben Gurion Airport this morning are 20 future IDF Lone Soldiers – ‘present-day Maccabees,’ making for a wonderful Chanukah present.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

72 new immigrants (Olim) from North America, including 20 soon-to-be IDF Lone Soldiers, landed this morning, December 28, in Israel on a Nefesh B’Nefesh group Aliyah flight, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA.

20 future Lone Soldiers - ‘present-day Maccabees' arrive in Israel 28 Dec 2016. - Photo/ Ben Kelmer, courtesy of Nefesh B'Nefesh

20 future Lone Soldiers – ‘present-day Maccabees’ arrive in Israel 28 Dec 2016. – Photo: Ben Kelmer, courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh

These young men and women are drafting with the Tzofim-Garin Tzabar program and will serve in the IDF as part of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Lone Soldiers Program. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| June 7, 2016
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Israel’s ‘Lone Soldiers’, exploited then abandoned, a squandered resource

 

MK Itzik Shmuli seeks solutions so others like Seth, who served 3 years in the IDF then left Israel due to an inability to adjust to a foreign culture, are assisted in their assimilation instead of being abandoned.

By Talam Yahav

 

“I thought my calling was to live in Israel. I left everything, my family, friends and college and I made aliyah. After a few months I joined the army. I was assigned to Givati and was chosen to be in Sayeret Rimon (Special Operations Unit – Desert Commando – ed). The only words I knew in Hebrew were ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘thanks’. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| May 22, 2016
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LA girl fulfills decade-long dream, joins IDF combat unit

“What’s most important is being a combat soldier & contributing to the state,” (of Israel) says 25 yr-old Alisa Sheldon of the IDF’s Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion.

By Danny Brenner

 

For 10 years, Alisa Sheldon couldn’t shake her dream of moving to Israel and serving in the IDF as a combat soldier. Two months ago she realized that dream, joining the ranks of the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion.

Alisa Sheldon – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

On Saturday, the 25-year-old Sheldon stood at attention with her male and female comrades, swearing their allegiance to the IDF and the State of Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| March 14, 2016
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Ex-Ukrainian ‘child soldier’ moves to Israel, learns Hebrew, joins IDF

 

At age 16, Sergei Brezhnikov, joined the Ukrainian “Children’s Army,” then at 19, he made aliyah, and after studying Hebrew, enlisted in the IDF.  Now, prior to his training as a medic, says “In Israel, I’ll have a better future.”

By Danny Brenner

 

“Israel is my new home, and I see my future here, only,” says Sergei Brezhnikov, 20, a lone IDF soldier who made aliyah from Ukraine.

Sergei Brezhnikov in his IDF uniform – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Brezhnikov was born in the city of Vinnytsia, the only child of a single mother who was 19 when she had him. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| January 6, 2016
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Grandparents’ stories of Israel inspired Japanese man to join IDF

 

Now serving in the Nahal Brigade, Daniel Tomohiro speaks of growing up in Japan, being inspired by his grandfather’s stories of making aliyah and fighting in Israel’s War of Independence.
• “My grandmother was in Auschwitz and was saved only because a German nurse covered her with a blanket,” he says.

By Danny Brenner

 

Daniel Tomohiro is not the typical Israeli soldier. His Hungarian grandparents survived the Holocaust, made aliyah, and fought in the War of Independence, but they then moved to Australia, where his mother met and married a Japanese man and moved to Iwata, Japan.

Now Tomohiro has come full circle and is serving in the Israel Defense Forces, undergoing basic training with the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , ,
| October 15, 2015
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Despite Arab Terror on Jews, 65 North American New Immigrants Arrive in Tel Aviv

 

Undeterred by the latest wave of Palestinian violence, 65 Canadian and US Jews, aged 10 months – 83 years old, decided to make Israel their new home.

By Shifra Shomron

 

Despite the current wave of terror attacks against Israelis in recent days, which has the country on high alert and has seen civilians determinedly protecting themselves from knife attacks, 65 new immigrants (or Olim) from the United States and Canada landed in Israel yesterday (Wednesday) morning.

They came via El Al Israel airlines, on a Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) group Aliyah flight which was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, and JNF-USA.
Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| September 22, 2015
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Both Doctors & Best Friends Leave Brazil To Protect Israel’s Borders

 

6 months ago, both Rio de Janeiro-born doctors Daniel Nigri & Benny London passed the Israeli medical board exams and then volunteered for the IDF
• Nigri, “I came to Israel during the 2nd Lebanon War & … had to come back here to contribute to its security.”

By Danny Brenner

 

Childhood friends Drs. Benny London and Daniel Nigri, both 27, left their native Rio de Janeiro to put their medical qualifications to good use in the Israel Defense Forces as lone soldiers currently stationed on the northern border.

London is the doctor assigned to the Shahaf combat intelligence battalion, while Nigri is the doctor of the Nahal Brigade’s 50th Battalion. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| August 18, 2015
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Nefesh B’Nefesh: 232 American New Immigrants landed in Israel today

The group of 232 Olim [New Immigrants],  from New York’s JFK airport, that include 29 families, 86 singles and 59 ‘Lone Soldiers’ landed today in the Jewish State!

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Two hundred and thirty-two new immigrants arrived in Israel on Tuesday morning aboard a Nefesh B’Nefesh aliya charter flight. Among those on board, 59 will be joining the Israel Defense Forces as lone soldiers. The flight departed on Monday from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

59 lone soldiers make Aliyah on the August 17 Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah flight from New York. – Photo: Sharhar Azran

The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliya & Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA, and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| June 30, 2015
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From the United States to IDF’s military prison

Young idealistic American came to Israel to join the IDF, but his naïveté ended up embedding him in a wild conspiracy to blow up the Dome of the Rock.

By Yoav Zitun

 

He made aliyah from United States as a lone soldier, served as a fighter in the Givati Reconnaissance Battalion, was wounded in Operation Protective Edge, and was a short time away from being released and returning to his family in Los Angeles. But that was when he began his troubled path

David during his military service – Photo: Facebook

After an investigation by the criminal investigation division, the police and the Shin Bet, David (not his real name) was arrested on suspicion of aiding an American extremist who planned to blow up the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and sentenced to half a year in military prison. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| September 17, 2014
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77 ‘Protective Edge’ lone soldiers will unite with parents for upcoming Holidays

Tomorrow at Ben Gurion Airport: Parents of lone soldiers who took part in operation ‘Protective Edge’ will be the first to land in Israel to spend the holidays with their children.

By Margaux Stelman

 

logosThe El-Al Airlines, the Israel hotel Association (IHA) the Association for the wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers (AWIS), the IDF’s Manpower Directorate are reuniting parents and their children, lone soldiers who fought during operation Protective Edge.

An event of this scope has never been done before, and the goal is simple: reunite lone soldiers with their parents for the holidays. About 125 parents to 77 soldiers will arrive in Israel in the next few days. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| July 27, 2014
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Insensitive Kerry to Mourning Mother ‘Sitting Shiva’ of Fallen IDF Soldier: ‘How’s Your Day?’

Israel’s IDF ‘lone soldier’, Max Steinberg’s funeral turnout in Jerusalem drew 30,000 people — including U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.

By Simone Wilson

 

The mother, father, sister and brother of 24-year-old Woodland Hills native and fallen IDF soldier Max Steinberg, though heartbroken and jet-lagged, said they were warmed by the incredible turnout at his funeral on Mt. Herzl today.
kerry

“How’s your day?” Kerry asked callously as he sat down.
“How’s your day?” Evie asked back.
Kerry responds “My day’s going better than yours.”

“I probably couldn’t stand here and talk without breaking down, without… all this love and all these people,” Steinberg’s mom, Evie, said into a semicircle of news mics after the Jerusalem ceremony. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| May 26, 2014
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From the French Army to the IDF to contribute & defend Israel

 

A year ago, Ron Abukrat had never been to Israel and did not speak Hebrew. “I understood that Israel was under attack and that it wasn’t easy to live there, but I knew that the information was not really accurate & not favorable. I decided that I had to go to Israel myself to see what was really happening there.”

By Danny Brenner

 

Ron Abukrat served as a combat soldier in the French army. His twin brother is a police officer in Paris and his older brother was a fighter pilot in the French Air Force. At only 24, Abukrat has already completed a B.A.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 29, 2014
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From Tokyo to the IDF with eyes on Paratroopers Brigade

 

Tokyo-raised Sol Kikuchi, 20, the son of a Japanese Buddhist mother & American Jewish father comes to Israel to serve as a lone soldier in the IDF .

By Danny Brenner

 

Sol Kikuchi, 20, was raised in the Tokyo suburb of Hachioji and until recently had never visited Israel. But one year ago, he experienced a transformation that brought him to the country, and on Wednesday he will enlist in the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier.

Fulfilling his dream to serve in the IDF, Sol Kikuchi – Photo: Danny Brenner

“My father is an American Jew whose parents immigrated to the U.S.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| April 27, 2014
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Christian lone soldier decides to cross the ‘Finnish’ line to volunteer in IDF

 

30 years ago, Daniel Bana’s Christian Arab father married a Finnish tourist & moved to Finland. Bana 24, now a lone soldier in the IDF, calls Israel his home.

By Danny Brenner

 

Corporal Daniel Bana, a 24-year-old combat soldier in the Kfir infantry brigade, is not your typical lone soldier. Some 30 years ago his father, a Christian Arab from Kafr Yasif, married a Finnish tourist visiting Israel and moved to southern Finland. They would have seven children.

Corporal Daniel Bana in IDF military fatigues – Photo: Gil Eliyahu/JINI

“We would visit my dad’s family every year, he has a warm and loving family in Kafr Yasif,” Daniel says about his childhood. Continue Reading »

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