An Israeli nonprofit that helped hundreds of reservists get out of debt following the October 7 Hamas-led attacks has been honored for national resilience.
The organization, Daf Hadash, known in English as Fresh Start, was awarded the inaugural Taib Prize for National Resilience on Tuesday evening at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.
The $50,000 prize, launched this year by the Taib Foundation, is intended to become an annual tradition recognizing individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to strengthening Israel’s national and social resilience.
The organization operates as a professional advocacy and legal support center and has worked over the last decade to pull families and businesses out of debt through a network of lawyers, financial experts and social rights professionals.
The average debt they handle is 250,000 shekels, or nearly $85,000.
After the outbreak of the war, it shifted to offering services primarily to reservists and their families who lost income during long stretches of service, aiding some 700 reservists and 100 civilians since Oct. 7, 2023.
“In light of the war and the need to help soldiers who went to the front lines, we looked for NGOs who were not necessarily formed after October but who had proven themselves over the years,” Israeli entrepreneur and philanthropist Haim Taib told JNS. “They succeeded in helping reservists overcome this difficult period at a time when the state did not in time.”
Tomer Rabinowitz, CEO of Daf Hadash, said one-third of IDF reservists, and in particular the self-employed, are grappling with debt and financial crisis due to the war.
“When a family faces financial collapse, the consequences go far beyond the financial aspect: it deals a blow to self-confidence and job security, harms children, relationships, health, the future and social mobility,” he said. “Debt tears families apart—literally.”
The founder and head of the organization said that winning the prize highlighted a national problem.
“It is a challenging journey, for while everyone knows the problem exists, no one truly talks about it, and those grappling with it ultimately face it alone,” he said. “In this sense, winning the award represents, first and foremost, important recognition that this is a problem requiring a fundamental national-level response.”
