As the new executive director of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ San Diego chapter, Nir BenZvi has big plans.
“I want to bring more Jews to the state of Israel and expose them to the importance and role that the Israeli army plays there, because it is the most important asset Israel has,” he says.
Through donor-sponsored programs, BenZvi is able to do just that. He’s led many missions to Israel where participants are able to see the military up close, meet soldiers and see a side of the country they might not have experienced before.
“It comes naturally to me to speak about Israel and military policies, being that I grew up there, and when I saw the FIDF chairman’s passion and enthusiasm for Israel, I wanted to work for him,” BenZvi says.
A former IDF soldier himself, BenZvi spent three years in an anti-terror unit after graduating high school in Israel, and it’s this experience that makes him so passionate about supporting the IDF.
“As a high school student in Israel, you have no choice about whether or not you are going to the army,” BenZvi says. “Even before graduating high school, students are planning their future through a military and ideological perspective. Think about what goes through the mind of a teenager in the U.S. that these Israeli students don’t get to think about; the question isn’t what college to go to or what fraternity or sorority to join, but what unit you will join in the army — whether you will be a fighter on the front lines or someone who will drive military vehicles to dangerous war zones,” BenZvi says.
Often, these thoughts are met with resistance or fear of the unknown, but army service can begin before young Israelis have time to process these emotions.
“You have to think about whether a suicide bomber is going to complete their mission the next day or if you will be there beforehand to stop it,” BenZvi says. “It’s a lot to take in with not much time to digest. Taking responsibility like this at such a young age is so much more than that — it’s a life and death decision.”
Additionally, some soldiers live with social economic hardship, and that’s where the FIDF steps in.
Educational programs for soldiers, special grants, food allowances and college scholarship programs are just some of the ways the FIDF helps soldiers in need. Recreational activities allow soldiers to receive much needed rest and relaxation at FIDF facilities, much like at a resort. The FIDF also offers programs for bereaved families and lone soldiers serving without any immediate family in Israel.
“There is not one way that we [the FIDF] are not connected to the soldiers,” BenZvi says.
In fact, the FIDF’s services touch many facets of an Israeli soldier’s life. The FIDF program IMPACT! offers full scholarships to military personnel to attend a four-year university upon completion of their military duties. Donors and scholarship recipients communicate throughout the educational term, and recipients are required to complete 130 community service hours annually while they attend school. IMPACT! students have completed more than one million hours since 2002, making it the number one program in providing community service in Israel, according to BenZvi.
Many scholarship recipients would be unable to attend college on their own without help from the FIDF.
Shimry Haviv, a current student at the Technion University, is studying mechanical engineering after losing both of his parents to cancer.
“When I wanted to go and study, I realized that I couldn’t afford it myself, and that’s when I turned to the FIDF office in Israel,” Haviv said.
Haviv spent almost four years in the IDF, eventually becoming an officer of new recruits. Now in his second year at school, he is working hard to keep his grades up.
“I don’t want to disappoint my donor, and I want to make him proud,” he says. “I write him a letter every semester and keep him updated about my studies, my volunteering and my life in general. Last year we even met at a dinner in Israel, and it was very exiting for me,” Haviv says.
To meet the volunteerism requirement, Haviv works at an elementary school helping third and fourth grade students with homework and social skills. The IMPACT! program’s community service component makes the FIDF the number one community service program in Israel.
For Haviv and many other IMPACT! recipients, the opportunity to go to college is just the beginning of their changed lives thanks to FIDF.
“The only way my plans for the future can work out is with the help from my special donor and the FIDF,” Haviv says.
But many donors find the program fulfills them as much as it improves the lives of the scholarship recipients.
“With many of our donors, we create relationships that last a lifetime, like the scholar/donor relationship,” BenZvi says.
San Diegan Charles Wax is one such donor. Wax has been involved with FIDF for about three years and has sponsored one IDF soldier’s college education. He contributes to other FIDF programs as well.
“I don’t think most people realize the challenge Israel faces, and the IDF is a key component in the country,” Wax says.
As part of his involvement with FIDF programs, Wax has traveled to Israel twice with the organization to visit military bases and meet with soldiers and other military personnel.
“The dedication of the soldiers is really inspiring,” he says.
Although Wax’s visits to Israel with the FIDF were not his first, he says they showed a side of the country he wasn’t able to see during other trips to Israel.
FIDF missions typically include 10-14 participants, and the only FIDF staff member is often BenZvi.
“My passion is to take people on missions to Israel because we can show them Israel from the bottom up, introduce them to soldiers and bring them to military bases,” BenZvi says.
As much as the FIDF helps soldiers while they’re serving, it provides equal support during their down time. Recreational activities and a program that pays for flights home for lone soldiers give these young men and women a chance to escape the harsh realities of military life.
As a lone soldier himself during his time in the IDF, BenZvi accepted the support of the FIDF to visit his mother in the U.S., something he wouldn’t have been able to do on his own.
“When I was serving [in the IDF], the flight home was only partially paid for, and that was a great help, but now we are able to fully sponsor a lone soldier’s trip home to see their family,” BenZvi says.
With about 2,500 lone soldiers currently serving in Israel, the program has become one of the FIDF’s most successful.
BenZvi is currently planning a San Diego gala to be held sometime in October, which he hopes will bring the Jewish community of San Diego together in support of a cause he believes in so personally. The event will bring prominent speakers from Israel, as well as recipients of FIDF programs, to speak on the group’s behalf.
“The work the FIDF does is important, because when we care about the soldiers, we care about Israel and the future of Israel,” BenZvi says. A
To learn more about FIDF, stop by the San Diego chapter’s booth at the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration 11 a.m.-3 p.m. April 25 at the San Diego Jewish Academy. The local chapter will also sponsor an evening with Israelis and IDF soldiers. Join them at 8 p.m. April 24 at Mabuno Gallery, 414 N. Cedros in Solana Beach, to meet Ziv Koren, an award-winning photojournalist from Israel, as well as gifted musicians in the IDF.
FIDF San Diego Chapter
P.O. Box 928140
San Diego, CA 92192
(858) 652-0637
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