Otzma LaChayal Initiative Expands Support for Lone Soldiers from USA
The Otzma LaChayal initiative, in partnership with the Los Angeles Jewish community, is launching a special operation to support lone soldiers from the USA serving in the IDF.
Operation "Otzma LaChayal" Expands Support for Lone Soldiers from the USA
While many families in Israel embrace their soldier children returning home, some parents experience this embrace from thousands of miles away. Jewish families living in the USA, whose children chose to leave home and move to Israel to serve in the IDF, face a complex reality of longing, daily worry, and the inability to be by their children's side during military service, especially during the tense security period.
Following the success of activities in the north of the country, the "Otzma LaChayal" initiative is launching a special operation in the south, connecting the Jewish community in Los Angeles with lone soldiers serving in Israel. In the coming days, activists from Israel and Los Angeles are expected to arrive at IDF bases in the south, meet lone soldiers, and surprise them with winter gear, care packages, and personal gifts sent by their families from overseas.
Delivering a Taste of Home to the Base
This is not merely about distributing equipment. For the soldiers, some of whom have not seen their parents for many long months, it is a moment when home reaches them directly at the base. The new activity follows a series of surprise visits conducted by the initiative at northern bases, during which volunteers met combatants, provided equipment and gifts, and brought moments of joy and strengthening amidst a complex service routine.
One of the most moving stories occurred when "Otzma LaChayal" volunteers, in cooperation with the WOMMYZ community from Los Angeles, surprised Coral, a lone female combat soldier who had not met her parents for two and a half years. Volunteers arrived at her base, threw her a birthday party with dozens of fellow combatants, and gave her a sense of family far away from home.
"Even when parents are on the other side of the ocean, we are here to ensure their children do not feel alone. These lone soldiers left everything behind to serve in the IDF, and now it is our turn to give them love," said Gali Nitzan, founder of the "Otzma LaChayal" project.
