The initiative for soldiers after leaving the criminal world: "I am fixing what I did"

36-year-old Shalva Yakobashvili, a married father of two, decided about two months ago that it was time to make amends. Although he was unable to enlist in the army due to his past, he chose to dedicate his life to those on the front lines since the October 7 massacre.

"It is something that touches my heart very much. When I was a child, I really wanted to enlist and they didn't let me," he says in an interview with C14 about his involvement in crime that prevented him from being part of the IDF.

In recent months, he has been managing a family logistics operation that includes his wife and brothers-in-law, as they arrive at military posts with grills, music, and good food. "We travel to make them a barbecue, a good atmosphere, fruits, nuts – really an abundance of everything good," he says about his activity for the soldiers on the front.

Leaving the criminal world

The path of Shalva to this place was not taken for granted. He immigrated to Israel as a child at the age of 4 and grew up in a difficult economic and social reality that led him to boarding schools, institutions, and eventually behind bars. "I was in the criminal world, I lived a bad life and I am not proud of it," he shares. After years of self-rehabilitation, he understood that the way to correction passes through giving to society: "I said to myself, I did stupid things, now how do we fix what I did? I think this is the way."

One of the experiences that was etched in his memory as part of the activity was a meeting with paratrooper soldiers from the 55th Battalion at the Shushan post. Shalva tells how his wife, Odel, burst into tears when she saw pictures of soldiers from the unit who fell in battle. "She looked at the picture and said to me: 'Babe, look, these are their guys. Think that these six could have been with us here now at the barbecue'". From his point of view, these meetings are a reminder that the war is far from over, even if the home front is starting to get used to it.

Although it is a young organization, Shalva is already raising funds through donations on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and even sweeps up tourists who join the initiative. He makes sure to arrive only at combat units of reservists, and says that the reactions from the field strengthen him to continue: "They are surprised when I approach them. They tell me 'Wow, I wish, they already started to forget about these things'. I remind them that we are still at war and that every day we have soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon."

Shalva's vision does not stop at the barbecue at the posts. He aspires to expand the activity to help cancer patients and needy families, but his main message is directed to at-risk youth who are in the place where he was once. "I wish I had the strength to lecture to influenced youth who think that selling drugs or stabbing is okay. I want to teach them that it is worth nothing," he concludes and leaves a message of hope: "As long as the candle is burning, it is possible to fix. If you believe that you ruined, believe that you can fix."