More than 4,000 “lone soldiers” serving in the Israel Defense Forces, hailing from 70 countries, attended a record-breaking Yom Siddurim (“Errands Day”) in Tel Aviv on Thursday, in the first such event held since the outbreak of the War of Redemption on Oct. 7, 2023.
Organized by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces-Nefesh B’Nefesh Lone Soldiers Program together with the IDF Manpower Directorate’s Mofet soldier’s welfare unit and the Association for Israel’s Soldiers, Thursday’s gathering capped the military’s annual Lone Soldier Appreciation Week.
The event brought together dozens of government ministries, service providers and volunteer groups offering support, including with issuing IDs and passports, driver’s-license conversions, employment and housing assistance, degree recognition and uniform repair and replacement, alongside help for recently discharged lone soldiers.
Lone soldiers are those without close family in Israel who can help them.
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) CEO Maj. Gen. (res.) Nadav Padan said that the event reflected the organization’s commitment to ensuring that lone soldiers “know they are never alone,” providing support ranging from housing and mental-health services to flights to visit their family back home.
FIDF is committed to easing the troop’s experience “so they can focus fully on their vital mission of protecting the State of Israel,” Padan said.
Nefesh B’Nefesh co-founders Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass emphasized that new immigrant soldiers “embody an extraordinary commitment to the State of Israel” with their “ongoing service to the Jewish nation.
The IDF Manpower Directorate’s head, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, praised the troops’ dedication, telling them, “You may be called ‘lone,’ but you are never alone.
“You are part of a family, we are always with you, always by your side, and endlessly proud of you,” he said. “Anyone who chooses to enlist far from home, their native tongue, or from their immediate family, chooses a life of purpose. Our duty as commanders and as an army is simple and clear: to ensure that they always have someone to rely on.”
