Friends of the Israel Defense Forces

The IMPACT! Scholarship Program grants full academic scholarships to former combat soldiers who come from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. The students receive full tuition towards an academic degree and give back to their communities with an annual 130 community service hours. IMPACT! students have completed more than 3 million hours since 2002, making it the number one program in providing community service in Israel.[3]

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces initiates and supports various educational programs designed to broaden the soldiers' horizons, further strengthening their Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli identity. These programs include:

• Identity and Purpose Programs acknowledge that the Israel Defense Forces' soldiers confront questions of identity, purpose, and ethics on a regular basis. The IDF Education Corps and Beit Morasha, a Jerusalem-based leadership training center that specializes in Jewish studies, have developed three courses for soldiers and commanders that focus on Jewish values and identity. Since its founding in 2002, Identity and Purpose has reached over 150,000 commanders and soldiers.[4]
• Israeli Journey takes Israel Defense Forces' soldiers on a journey throughout Israel and seeks to help soldiers better understand what they are serving to protect. At the same time, the program strengthens the sense of community within units and contributes to the individual’s personal development. In 2013, 3,320 soldiers enjoyed an educational journey throughout Israel and participated in workshops focusing on Jewish identity.[5]
• Amir Course seeks to better integrate Ethiopian-Israeli enlistees into the army and enable them to access more challenging and influential positions in the IDF. In 2013, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces supported approximately 750 soldiers from the Ethiopian community.[6]
• Eitan Program supplies teenagers from difficult backgrounds with tools to have a full and meaningful service and provides them with a vocation as a mode of succeeding in life thereafter. At the end of their service, the soldiers may choose out of three professional courses funded by FIDF and offered by the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry. They are then placed in a course according to availability and their own abilities. Upon completing technical and vocational training, the soldiers receive an official trade diploma, recognized by and given on behalf of the Ministry. In 2013, 110 soldiers participated in the Eitan Program and helped open doors for their future.[7]
• Formal Education seeks to increase opportunities for soldiers to complete twelve years of formal education and receive a high school completion certificate by the end of their military service, enabling them to finish their military service with a greater chance of success in civilian life. Most civilian jobs and educational institutions in Israel require at least a high school completion certificate, making the Formal Education Program integral in giving a large number of soldiers the opportunity to finish their service on a more even footing with their peers. In 2013, 705 soldiers completed 12 years of formal education thanks to Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.[8]

FIDF works to provide for the well-being of the Israel Defense Forces' combat soldiers through a variety of programs. The Adopt a Brigade Program allows Friends of the Israel Defense Forces' communities to create an extraordinary bond with Israel Defense Forces' combat soldiers by supporting the well-being of a specific combat brigade. Brigades currently sponsored through this program include:

• Paratroopers Brigade
• Golani Brigade
• Givati Brigade
• 401 "Iron Trail" Brigade
• Golan Artillery Regiment
• Combat Intelligence Corps
• Shayetet 3 and Daburim Naval Patrol Squadrons [9]

The Adopt a Battalion Program also supports approximately 50 combat battalions a year. Funds are used for fun/sports days, events celebrating outstanding soldiers, celebrations of Jewish holidays, and general recreation needs. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces' SPIRIT Program gives active duty combat soldiers a much-needed break from their daily responsibilities and duties by providing each combat unit with a week of recuperation and fun. In 2013, 13,000 combat soldiers enjoyed weeks of rest and recuperation through Friends of the Israel Defense Forces' SPIRIT Program.[10] The DIGNITY Program aims to assist the soldiers who serve on the front lines proudly, while privately they are struggling financially, worrying for their families who often count on them as providers. Critical aid provided through this program includes basic appliances and furniture, food vouchers, special grants, and holiday gift coupons that help the soldiers through difficult economic times. In 2013, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces provided over 8,000 soldiers in-need with necessities such as furniture and appliances, Special Aid, Chanukah Friendship Vouchers and Food Vouchers.[11]

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces' Lone Soldiers Program supports soldiers who chose to leave behind their homes and families in their countries of origin to serve the State of Israel. The program provides financial assistance, flights to visit family in their countries of origin, academic scholarships, adoptive families, a 24/7 call center, Shabbat and holiday meals, social programming, grants and a Lone Soldiers Center, and guidance. In 2013, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces helped over 2,500 soldiers during their service in the Israel Defense Forces. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces has completed building two Lone Soldiers homes in Israel and is currently in the process of building a third.[12]

The LEGACY Program supports thousands of bereaved family members, providing them with opportunities to connect with peers who have also suffered this terrible loss and helping them celebrate holidays and life-cycle events. Support includes wedding gifts, bereaved sibling workshops, Rosh Hashanah gifts, relaxing vacations, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah summer camps in the United States. In 2013, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces brought 78 Bar and Bat Mitzvah children on a trip to the U.S., presented Rosh Hashana gifts to 5,200 widows, hosted about 750 widows at rest and recreation centers in Israel and funded workshops for 300 bereaved siblings.[13]

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces' Wounded Veterans Programs aim to fulfill the well-being needs and provide recreational activities for veterans suffering from a severe wound, injury, or trauma. The STRIDES Program helps Israel Defense Forces' wounded veterans discover their strength by providing special prostheses for athletic activities, giving them the means to live life without limitation. The program also brings together a group of wounded veterans who, with the help of their new prostheses, partake in running, bike riding and other challenging activities together. In 2013, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces sponsored the cost of sports prostheses and athletic training for nine Israel Defense Forces' amputees.[14]