Heroes for Life” is an Israeli organization working to leverage the vast infrastructure of 400,000 of Israeli released soldiers traveling to developing countries every decade in order to leverage this great opportunity and create humanitarian volunteer work in these countries as part of the Israeli veterans “post army trip” and by that, showing the real face of Israel and its spirit around the globe
The organization was established in 2013 by three discharged officers that served together in “Duvdevan”, an elite Israeli anti-terror unit. After his military service, Gili, one of the three officers went on his “post-army trip” to Thailand and was amazed by the vast number of Israeli travelers to one of the poorest countries in the world. The idea was born during a Shabbat dinner in a Chabad house in Ko-Samui, an island in southern Thailand where he was present with over 1200 Israeli backpackers. Gili thought that if many of those Israeli backpackers dedicated two weeks of their “big post-army trip” to humanitarian volunteering, we could use it to show the beautiful face of Israel to the world and make our world a better place. We believe that there is no justification for the fact that Israel, along with Pakistan and Iran, was ranked among the countries with the most negative impact on the world (BBC 2012). Furthermore, we believe that this action of “Tikkun Olam” is part of who we are as Jews and thus constitutes a central element in the Jewish DNA.
By the end of 2025, the organization will send 25 humanitarian missions to 25 developing countries each year, while leveraging the infrastructure for backpackers that already exists in these countries. The organization will be known to all IDF veterans and will brand Israel as a world leader in the field of humanitarian aid. As part of the association’s alumni organization, thousands of graduates will be recruited to participate in significant volunteer work in Israel.
Former Justice | The Supreme Court of Israel
