Despite the decline in tourism as a result of the prolonged Oslo War, the number of volunteers flocking to Israel to help out on IDF bases around the country has risen by 46%, mostly in the context of the IDF’s Sar-el program.
According to the director of the Sar-el program, Colonol (res.) Yisrael Geva, 3,504 people participated in the program in 2002 – compared to 2,396 during 2001.
An analysis of the demographic makeup of the year’s participants shows a 59% increase in volunteers from the United States, a 32% increase from France and South Africa, a 44% increase from Canada, and a 100% increase from Britain. The greatest total number of volunteers came from France. Whereas only one volunteer hailed from Italy in the year 2001, forty volunteers arrived from Italy this past year.
The Sar-el program was founded by Brigadier General (Res.) Aharon Davidi in 1982, during Operation Peace for the Galilee, with the aim of drafting volunteers from the Diaspora to work on IDF bases. Since then, thousands of volunteers have participated in the program, working on supplies and logistics on various army bases for three-week intervals, after which many stay on to pursue other more long-term projects. Volunteers of all ages, from students to retirees arrive to participate in the experience of truly helping out the IDF, the first Jewish army in two thousand years.
Upon arrival, the volunteers are immediately placed on one of several bases across Israel and assigned different tasks. They go through a process similar to that of Israel’s standing soldiers as they arrive to begin their service. Many participants have gone on to enlist in full term IDF service and to immigrate to Israel.
“Sar-el provided me a chance to feel, in whatever miniscule way is possible for a not-yet-citizen, that I was really able to contribute,” said Ari Levine, who came to volunteer during his spring break from the University of Pennsylvania. “But even more than that,” exclaimed Levine, “it showed me how much more there is to do, and how much more my being in Israel for the rest of my life could help.”
According to the director of the Sar-el program, Colonol (res.) Yisrael Geva, 3,504 people participated in the program in 2002 – compared to 2,396 during 2001.
An analysis of the demographic makeup of the year’s participants shows a 59% increase in volunteers from the United States, a 32% increase from France and South Africa, a 44% increase from Canada, and a 100% increase from Britain. The greatest total number of volunteers came from France. Whereas only one volunteer hailed from Italy in the year 2001, forty volunteers arrived from Italy this past year.
The Sar-el program was founded by Brigadier General (Res.) Aharon Davidi in 1982, during Operation Peace for the Galilee, with the aim of drafting volunteers from the Diaspora to work on IDF bases. Since then, thousands of volunteers have participated in the program, working on supplies and logistics on various army bases for three-week intervals, after which many stay on to pursue other more long-term projects. Volunteers of all ages, from students to retirees arrive to participate in the experience of truly helping out the IDF, the first Jewish army in two thousand years.
Upon arrival, the volunteers are immediately placed on one of several bases across Israel and assigned different tasks. They go through a process similar to that of Israel’s standing soldiers as they arrive to begin their service. Many participants have gone on to enlist in full term IDF service and to immigrate to Israel.
“Sar-el provided me a chance to feel, in whatever miniscule way is possible for a not-yet-citizen, that I was really able to contribute,” said Ari Levine, who came to volunteer during his spring break from the University of Pennsylvania. “But even more than that,” exclaimed Levine, “it showed me how much more there is to do, and how much more my being in Israel for the rest of my life could help.”