A newly launched initiative by the Israel Football Association and the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization is using soccer to support the rehabilitation of wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel.
“Kicking Forward,” launched last week at the national team’s training complex in Shefayim, brings together nine teams established in cooperation with six leading Israel Premier League clubs: Beitar Jerusalem, F.C. Ashdod, Hapoel Beersheva, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The initiative provides participants with a regular, team-based framework combining sports activities, social connections and a sense of belonging to the soccer clubs they support, as part of their rehabilitation and return to everyday life.
Ronit Glasman, director of innovation and business development at the Israel Football Association, who initiated the project, told JNS that the idea emerged not long after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing war in Gaza, when the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization approached the association to explore ways the two organizations could cooperate.
The collaboration was prompted by an understanding that the new generation of veterans would be younger and that rehabilitation programs would need to adapt accordingly, she said.
“We decided on a few initiatives through these three years. Then we wanted to do something more structured to allow us to understand the impact on the veterans and we started ‘Kicking Forward,’” Glasman told JNS.
“It’s more focused on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-impacted soldiers and the aim is to give them a framework of regular training once a week, with professional trainers, equipment, facilities, to have them first get out of the house and back to the routine,” she continued.
“We realized that by engaging all the six leading clubs and doing the activities in the clubs, it would be more meaningful,” Glasman added.
The IDF Disabled Veterans Organization’s Beit Halochem rehabilitation centers will provide participants with professional and emotional support, including guidance from social workers, psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, according to their individual needs.
“Our collaboration with the Israel Football Association is another important step in our shared efforts to provide wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel with additional opportunities for rehabilitation and a return to fulfilling lives,” said Yossi Matityahu, CEO of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization.
“Sport is an integral part of physical and emotional rehabilitation, strengthening self-confidence and fostering a sense of capability and belonging. Honoring our heroes is not simply about saying thank you, it requires an ongoing commitment to their rehabilitation,” he added.
Approximately 250 IDF soldiers are currently participating in the program, Glasman said. The main obstacle to expanding it is the availability of training facilities.
“For now, we are doing it for one year. It’s a pilot. We were supposed to have six teams but opened nine because of the demand,” she said.
The launch event opened with a ceremony introducing the initiative and the partnership between the two organizations. It was followed by an exhibition match featuring wounded soldiers and security personnel, members of the Israeli Artists’ National Football Team and former Israel national team players, including Moshe Sinai, Omri Afek, Liran Strauber, Ravid Gazal, Omer Golan, Shuli Gilardi and Jean Talesnikov.
“The partnership with the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization reflects the values that guide us at the Israel Football Association: mutual responsibility, compassion and belief in the power of a team. Wounded IDF soldiers and security personnel are an extraordinary example of determination, courage and the ability to rise again, even in the face of the greatest challenges,” Shino Zuaretz, chairman of the Israel Football Association, said.
“It is thanks to them that we can continue playing, and it is our duty to continue standing by their side. I am proud of the clubs that have joined this initiative and of a partnership that once again proves that Israeli soccer is about much more than the game itself. Together, we will keep kicking forward.”
