Home is where the IDF is
While some of Israel’s lone soldiers have a network of familial support in Israel, there are those from far-flung lands, such as Panama and New Zealand, to whom the army is their family.
While their friends back home live across the sea, and their friends from the army celebrate with their families, many lonely soldiers in Israel spend the holidays far from their native lands.
Among the young men and women who immigrate to Israel and serve in the army, one will also find those who are not only lonely soldiers, but also the sole representatives of their respective countries – Cuba, New Zealand and even Zimbabwe, for example.
Not all the lonely soldiers have the support of their parents, who often express concerns and fears about their children's enlistment, yet the young men and women choose to take the courageous step, leave everything behind and report for duty. Corporal Esther is one such soldier; she serves in the Israel Navy, in a combat support role, the full extent of which is classified, and is the only Panamanian in the Israel Defense Forces.
Esther came to Israel with the purpose of converting to Judaism when she was in 12th grade, and fell in love with the country.
"I am an only daughter," she says. "And although my mother didn’t want me to immigrate to Israel, I decided that I love the country, I'm going to do it and going to enlist. Mom lives hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, and I miss her very much, but I feel at home on the kibbutz where I live."
Despite the fact that they could have gone on to college or found jobs in their native countries, the lonely soldiers speak passionately about the spirit of volunteering that prompted them to make the decision to enlist in the army.
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"It was clear to me that I would enlist," Esther says. "The moment I first landed in Israel I knew I'd become a citizen and would enlist in the army like every other citizen."
According to another sole representative of his native land, Private Alon Kruger, who moved to Israel from New Zealand and enlisted as a paratrooper, "If I had another soldier with me from the country in which I was born, I guess my acclimatization would have been easier."
Kruger says the New Zealand Jewish community is a very small one. "I'd be happy to persuade other from New Zealand to enlist; the problem is there aren't that many to persuade."
Some of Kruger's fellow soldiers have told him they dream of traveling to New Zealand after the army.
Corporal Avi Buchris, a fighter in the Kfir Brigade, is also a lone soldier – and also the sole ambassador of his country, an Arab state, in the IDF.
"I participated in the operation to find the three abducted teenagers, and my family watched what was happening here on the news," he recalls. "Although I've explained to them many times that everything is okay, they were very worried about me."
Buchris said farewell to his family almost two years ago, leaving behind 10 brothers and sisters. "I miss them very much, but my home is here," he says. "My friends from the army are like a family to me."
Buchris has no plans to return to his homeland following his discharge. "Although my father specially came to Israel to try to persuade me to return home, I wasn't willing to do so. I plan to remain in Israel."
