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Israeli and U.S. nonprofits that offer counseling to survivors of troops killed during their military service joined for a briefing to the White House initiative for military families.

Shlomi Nahumson, youth director for the Israel Defense Forces' Widows and Orphans Organization, joined on Tuesday with representatives from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, or TAPS, in briefing staff assigned to the White House’s Joining Forces Initiative.

“Grief is a universal language,” Lynda Davis, the executive vice president of TAPS, said in a statement released by both groups. “It means so much for our surviving military families to share their grief journey with those family members who are from allied countries."

TAPS also conducts joint programs with similar groups from Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The Joining Forces Initiative, founded in 2011 by first lady Michelle Obama and second lady Jill Biden, advocates on behalf of military families.