Sgt. First Class (res.) Malkia Gross spent his final leave from combat in Rafah in the way that reflected him best. Instead of heading home after weeks of intense fighting in the Gaza Strip, he traveled directly to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva to cheer up children with cancer.
He later returned to Rafah and never came home. Gross, a soldier in the Armored Corps' 9212th Battalion, was killed on June 22, 2024, in an operational accident involving the tank in which he was serving in the southern Gaza Strip. He was 25.
Two years later, his family and close friend, Yair Saadon, are seeking to ensure that the kindness that defined his life does not end with his death. On June 1, 2026, around the time of the second memorial marking his death, Saadon and the Gross family launched Malki Tov, a volunteer-matching app created in his memory. The platform is intended to make volunteering in Israel faster, simpler and more accessible by connecting people who want to help with organizations and individuals who need assistance.
The idea did not emerge only after Gross was killed. It grew out of conversations he and Saadon had shortly before his death. “We both could not understand how the world of volunteering and charitable work in Israel could be so outdated,” Saadon recalled.
“Anyone who knew Malkia knew that he was a super-volunteer. Every free moment he had was devoted to doing good and helping others.
"I remember us wondering how it could be that when I want a hamburger, I open Wolt and it arrives at my house within half an hour, but when I want to do something good, I have to deal with a million outdated bureaucratic procedures and call all kinds of landlines. The app was born out of that gap and established in his memory.”
The principle behind Malki Tov is straightforward. Volunteers register on the platform, enter their details and select the fields in which they can offer assistance. “You enter Malki Tov, write, ‘I want to volunteer,’ provide your details and choose the categories in which you specialize, and then the magic happens,” Saadon said.
“The most important thing is to share the app with friends, family and anyone who wants to join the database, be called on daily or weekly according to their preferences, and add goodness and kindness in Malkia’s memory.”
On the other side of the system are nonprofits, organizations and private individuals seeking help. They can use the platform to identify volunteers suited to a particular task.
“Anyone who needs volunteers enters the system, which is based on AI,” Saadon explained. “Through semantic filtering, it can alert the volunteers most relevant to the task, without having to struggle with Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups or all kinds of unfamiliar and unsuitable people.”
‘Volunteering was his whole world’
For Gross’ mother, Michal, commemorating her son through a project centered on helping others was the most natural choice. “You could say this is the way to do it,” she said. “Malkia volunteered for 10 years with Zichron Menachem,” the Israeli nonprofit supporting children and young adults with cancer and their families. He began at 17 and continued until his final day.
"Even among the belongings we received from the army after he fell was his volunteer card. Volunteering and doing good were his whole world. Every free moment, he would volunteer with the children and teenagers in the organization. Without it, he did not feel complete.”
Gross with children from the nonprofit during a volunteer activity. ‘He lifted their spirits, and they made him happy’
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Malki Gross
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Gross first encountered Zichron Menachem through a high school community-service requirement and quickly formed a deep connection with the children he met there.
“He was drawn into the activities with them,” his mother said. “He would go to hospitals in his free time to make them happy. For him, it was mutual. Just as he managed to lift their spirits, they made him happy.
“Malkia was naturally a joyful person, and he gave that joy to everyone around him. He would always bring happiness to his friends at weddings, and before that he would help them organize marriage proposals. He did everything gladly and from the heart, and he never agreed to accept anything in return.”
Gross, center, visiting a pediatric oncology ward during a military leave
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Even between reserve-duty rounds, including five months on the northern front followed immediately by service in Rafah, Gross never stopped volunteering. His trip from Gaza to Soroka Medical Center was just one example of how he continued helping others throughout the war.
For Saadon, it reflected the way his friend viewed his responsibility to Israeli society. “Israel is a country of volunteers,” he said. “I have nothing against the authorities, but ultimately we, the citizens, are much faster on the ground. We take care of one another, including vulnerable populations and those who were neglected during the war.
“Malkia was always looking, both in his personal life and in general, for places where he could have a positive influence on society. The combination of fighting on the front and continuing to volunteer during his short leaves from service was perfect for him. That was how he felt he was not abandoning anyone and was continuing to contribute to society. I think it was simply part of the same path that guided him throughout his extraordinary life.”
Gross in Gaza, shortly before he fell
(Photo: courtesy of the family)
Saadon developed the app with support from the Benjamin de Rothschild (BR) Ambassadors Program, operated by The Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships, which assists young people seeking to lead initiatives and strengthen their communities.
Through the program, he received professional tools and connections that helped transform the idea he had discussed with Gross into a working platform and bring it to an official launch.
“There is something deeply symbolic about the fact that a project intended to connect people with opportunities to do good grew out of Malkia’s story,” said Hadass Fox Salev, the program’s director.
“For Yair, this was not only a way to commemorate a close friend, but an attempt to address a challenge that he himself encountered: the desire of many people to volunteer and help, alongside the difficulty of finding a way to do so.
“To me, that is the essence of leadership: the ability to take a personal experience, identify a broader need within it and act to create a solution. Beyond the moving story of commemoration, this is an initiative seeking to turn the goodwill that exists in Israeli society into action that is more accessible, simpler and more meaningful for everyone.”