Six years after the Otzem pre-military academy was demolished in the expulsion from Gush Katif, the school has found a new home. The 150 new recruits arriving next week will enjoy a large, modern campus.
The academy is known for turning out highly motivated, highly skilled recruits. Of the roughly 1,300 young men who have passed through its doors, 90% have gone on to combat units.
Thirty completed the grueling and highly competitive IAF training for pilots and navigators, more than 30 are in the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal unit, and 450 went on to become commanders.
Twelve of the academy's students have fallen in battle; the most recent was Major Eliraz Peretz, who was killed while fighting terrorists in Gaza in March 2010. In addition, five students were murdered in a terrorist attack in 2002.
“The Otzem academy is a shining example of work to unite the people of Israel, and to connect to every part of society,” said Bentzi Lieberman, head of the Tnufa administration for resettling Disengagement expellees.
Tnufa worked tirelessly in recent years to raise 35 million shekels to build the 4,000 square meter campus, which includes a study hall, kitchen, dining hall, sports field, offices, and dormitories that have been specially reinforced against mortar shell attacks from nearby Gaza.
Otzem's new campus is located in Neve, in the sands of Halutza on the Israel-Egypt border. “The view in the new location is very similar to the view in Atzmona, and the sands are reminiscent of those in Gush Katif,” Otzem head Rabbi Rafi Peretz said. “For years our hundreds of students trained for their military service on dunes just like these.”