Nine years before the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog – who received the Israel Prize and is now chairman of the Jewish Agency – launched a voluntary organization called Closing Ranks.

It specializes in offering thorough, high-level personal guidance and mentoring in various life areas for young men and women, many living in the periphery, who have difficulty finding a job or studying, running their financial affairs, and lacking financial and emotional support from their families.
Little did they know that many tens of thousands of wounded and traumatized soldiers and reservists, evacuees, displaced people, and others would need urgent, personal assistance after October 7, 2023. Many of those who were not wounded suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Since the outbreak of the war, its efforts have become even more critical, as our focus is on assisting young adults in the first cycle of exposure to the war events in the Gaza surrounding area, the southern and the northern districts of Israel, as well as soldiers returning from the front who need emotional support and assistance in processing the difficult experiences they faced during the war,” said Almog.

Almog established the organization together with MK Benny Gantz and National Unity Party MK and former agriculture minister Alon Shuster. Its success rate – those who continue the process and gain from the experience for a year – is 85%.

IDF tanks sit near the Gaza border communities at daybreak, March 27th, 2019 (credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
IDF tanks sit near the Gaza border communities at daybreak, March 27th, 2019 (credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
Operating nationwide from its office in Emek Hefer, its eight paid staff around the country train and supervise mentors from Kiryat Shmona in the North to Yeruham in the South. Closing Ranks’ 1,500 volunteer mentors aged 35 to 50 have worked with over 240 young adults each year.

Today, 70% of those being mentored have been affected by the war, and 24% are reservists. Ninety-one percent said they have no effective support from their families. Approximately 55% are males mentored by males, and 45% are women mentored by women every two weeks. Over 30% of those seeking help are of Ethiopian origin, and there are also many Russian speakers.
As Israel’s largest and leading mentoring nonprofit organization, Closing Ranks plans to triple the number of young adults that it mentors within the next three years, said its deputy director, social worker Miri Rabinovich Marciano, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
Oded Solomon, the director, is in charge of fundraising; the organization receives a small amount from the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry and hopes to receive help from the Defense Ministry as well as more Israeli and foreign donors.
“Our mission in these challenging days is to give these young individuals affected by the war, who are Israel’s future generation, a guiding hand as they return to a proactive life routine while maximizing their abilities, strengthening their personal resilience, for making a meaningful impact on the society of the future,” Rabinovich Marciano declared.
“The mentoring we provide is meant to help them realize their potential with the help of a meaningful, trusting relationship with an adult who is experienced and knowledgeable in a broad range of areas.”
Dr. Nahum Itzkovitz, the former director-general of the Agriculture Ministry and two other ministries, is chairman of Closing Ranks. “When I retired from my position in the government, Doron approached me to lead the organization.
Young people, especially those who bear the burden of defense, are currently experiencing enormous difficulties. It’s the duty of the government and society to help them overcome them and help them build themselves and build their future,” he declared.

A very successful relationship has been created between 22-year-old Nadav Buhbut from Kiryat Yam – who was seriously wounded a year ago at Khan Yunis in Gaza – and Ariel Michaeli, CEO of a hi-tech firm in Karmiel. As a teen, he was overweight and lived in a dormitory school.

With help, he lost the weight, joined the armored corps, and fought in Gaza. He was the only soldier in his group who was not wounded, resulting in his developing post-trauma. But later he returned and was hit by smoke in his tank that caused severe harm to his lungs.
“I was treated at Soroka University Medical Center for four months and then sent home. I didn’t know what to do with my life. I didn’t want to go on to academic studies. My parents tried to support me emotionally, but it wasn’t enough,” he told the Post in an interview. “There was also so much red tape from the IDF to get what was coming to me.”
Buhbut learned of Closing Ranks and asked to get a mentor. He was matched up with Michaeli, who had begun to volunteer about a year before with another youth. “I didn’t feel an immediate connection with Ariel, but it developed after several meetings. Now, we will be permanent friends, even after the mentoring period ends.”
Michaeli said he was “amazed by Nadav’s experiences and his personality. He has such internal strength. I feel I have gained from him more than he got from me. We go biking together. I have a much better connection with my own three children, aged six to 17, because of it. Whenever I meet someone who has the ability to listen and be a mentor, I tell them about Closing Ranks.”
https://www.closing-ranks.org/english/