Sar-El is a volunteer program of the Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

 (IDF). Every year about 5,000 volunteers from overseas serve for two or three weeks with the IDF. Their job is neither paid nor armed and is mainly in the logistical, maintaining, catering, supply and medical services. Having volunteers do these jobs saves the army money and spares reserve soldiers from being called up. Volunteers must be at least 17 years old (15 if accompanied by a parent) and healthy. Sar-El is subordinate to the Logistics Corps.

History

The program was raised in the summer of 1982 by Brigadier (ret.) Dr. Aharon Davidi

Aharon Davidi

Aharon Davidi is an Israeli general and founder of the Sar-El volunteer program of the IDF.-Biography:He was born in Israel as the youngest son of an immigrant family from Bender, . At the age of fifteen, he served in the Haganah and Palmach...

 (former commander of the IDF Paratrooper and Infantry Corps), when due to the general mobilization during the 1982 Lebanon War

1982 Lebanon War

The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...

 in some kibbutzim at the Golan

Golan

Golan was a biblical city in Land of Israel. It was in the territory of Manasseh in the Bashan.Golan was the most northerly of the three cities of refuge east of the Jordan River . Manasseh gave this city to the Gershonite Levites .According to the Bible, the Israelites conquered Golan from the...

 the harvest with crops already ripened was in danger, because all able-bodied farmers were on reserve duty in the IDF. Within a few weeks Davidi recruited some 650 volunteers to lend their support for Israel through volunteer labor on IDF bases, so the kibbuzniks could be sent to their fields. These first volunteers expressed their wish that this volunteer project should be perpetuated, and in the spring of 1983, "Sar-El - The National Project for Volunteers for Israel" was founded as a non-profit, non-political organization.

Today, Sar-El is represented in some 30 countries. During 2009 over 4,000 volunteers from all over the world traveled to Israel and served in the Sar-El program.
Approximately 70% of the volunteers came from the U.S.A (Volunteers for Israel-VFI), France (Le Volontariat Civil en Israël-UPI), and Canada (Canadian Volunteers for Israel-CVI).
The remainder came from virtually all over the world. The volunteer force was approximately 50% men and 50% women with the largest age segment being 25 and under.

Legal status

The volunteers wear IDF work uniforms (fatigues) with blue Sar-El epaulettes, but they are not soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s. For this reason their service usually does not conflict with the military laws of the volunteers' home countries.

Meaning

Sar-El is the Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

acronym for Sheirut Le’Yisrael, meaning "Service to Israel".

Further reading

• Army Fatigues: Joining Israel's Army of International Volunteers by Mark Werner
• The Volunteer Connection is VFI's national update and newsletter published quarterly since Fall, 2006
• VFI's Youtube channel has numerous videos contributed by volunteers and portrays various aspects of voluntering in Israel
• VFI's Facebook channel contains updated program information for VFI alumni and friends of VFI
• VFI's Twitter account has hundreds of timely tweets related to the VFI program

External links

• Sar-El in Israel
• Volunteers for Israel in the U.S.A.
• Canadian Volunteers for Israel
• Le Volontariat Civil en Israël (Sar-El in France)
• Le Volontariat Civil en Israël-SAR-EL Belgique (Sar-El in Belgium)
• Stichting Sar-El Nederland (Sar-El in Netherlands)
• Sar-El Norge (Sar-El in Norway)
• Sar-El in Czech Republic