Izhak said that Gav Lalochem had developed a program to help combat veterans get into the medical field and guide them through the entire process. At meetings once a week, veterans are given advice on financial management, investment, entrepreneurship, careers, and academic studies – as well as the unit camaraderie and sense of belonging that is lacking in civilian life.
The NGO also provides mentors who accompany the former soldiers through their programs, practical and professional challenges, and even aid with networking.
Izhak said that throughout the war, the Diaspora’s help was invaluable, not just for donations, but for emotional support and making the case for Israel abroad, and now their help was needed again.
Gav Lalochem gets support and collaborates with government ministries, local authorities, and philanthropists to implement its programs. Depending on the project, it is able to work with a municipality or the Defense Ministry, but to ensure their maximum effect and tie them together beyond the responsibilities of authorities and ministries, it needed to raise more funds from donors.
Such donations wouldn’t just help individual soldiers; they would impact the entire nation.
“The investment in this young population that sacrificed everything it could – and knew that it might be sacrificing its future as the price in some cases – would be the most Zionist investment a Jew can make today, because investing in the future of the State of Israel is investing in people who will also continue to defend the state.
Programs cover varied post-war walks of life
“They will also lead the state in a few years, and if we give them the support, the guidance, and the ability to continue to develop and progress, we will see both prosperity for them and the ability of the State of Israel to defend itself,” said Izhak.
“It is time to help these people.”
Izhak explained that while the war, which began on October 7, 2023, might be at its end, the reservists needed to be ready for the next conflict.
While some philanthropists invested in them at the beginning of the war because the need was clear, the same attention was needed now, before an emergency or another war arose. Izhak reminded that there were around 50,000 soldiers in the reserves at any given time during the ceasefire periods.
There were 50,000 people expected to leap out and back into the economy at irregular intervals. For two and a half years, their home life and studies have not progressed, and their business and careers have stalled. These challenges need to be addressed by those who know them best, former combat soldiers like those leading Gav Lalochem.
The company commander is well acquainted with such life disruptions. The Gav Lalochem US tour had been set to begin on March 17, after Izhak finished his own deployment to the Syrian border, but the trip was delayed when the war with Iran renewed with Operation Roaring Lion.
Following Izhak’s release from reserve duty, Gav Lalochem is set to visit New York, Boston, and Atlanta from June 2 to June 12.
The writer serves as a reservist soldier in Izhak’s military company.