Yad Labanim, Israel's leading support network for the families and friends of fallen IDF soldiers, has unveiled its revamped website that it says will improve the quality if the service it offers to the bereaved.
Yad Labanim says it works to help bereaved families "to turn their loss into an engine for social change, advising and providing funding to projects that strengthen our country and our people."
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IDF troops salute at the annual Yad Labanim Memorial Day service in Jerusalem
(Photo: EPA/Archive)
The non-profit was created in 1949, in the immediate aftermath of Israel's War of Independence. It offers counselling and support to bereaved families from across Israeli society, irrespective or faith of ethnicity, operating 64 branches across the country and holding hundreds of events each year.
The organization also works to preserve the legacy of the fallen, building an interactive monument to the soldiers who gave their lives serving their country and offering scholarships and mentorships to young people who have lost a sibling.
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Eli Ben-Shem attends the 2019 Yad Labanim Memorial Day service in Jerusalem
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
"We are the first address for families who lose a loved one in the line of duty," the organization says. "We do all we can to ease their pain as they adjust to a new reality, and we stay with them for the rest of their lives."
The new website details the organization's activities across multiple platforms and offers a vital link between the bereaved and support networks.
The organization is today headed by Eli Ben-Shem, who lost his son Kobi in the 1997 helicopter disaster that claimed the lives of 73 Israeli soldiers.