As part of the army’s Infantry Professional Training School, IDF soldiers visited the Negev rehabilitation village to gain a more thorough understanding of integration and disability inclusion. The visit enabled them to acquire new outlooks and gain tools that will help them in their future leadership positions within the army.

Though entering the village on an educational mission, the soldiers thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They built friendships with older residents and took on the role of older siblings with younger children, playing with them in village playgrounds.

“The IDF is the melting pot of Israel,” commented ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran CEO Avi Wortzman. “It is a place in which people of different backgrounds come together and learn how to live side-by-side. In the future, these people will command soldiers. It is important that the future generation knows how to tell the story of those whose voices are not heard, children and adults with disabilities. It is through Tikkun Olam that we are able to share our lives.”