A Journey Toward Healing: Supporting IDF Combat Veterans Through Bishvil HaMachar

By Hanan Rubin, Director of Israel Strategy, and Zohar Hahn-Brafman, Program Officer for the Israel Portfolio

We want to share a deeply moving update regarding the emergency support grant given in December 2025. The grant was given to Bishvil HaMachar, an organization that helps IDF combat veterans process their military experiences and navigate the long-term aftermath of their service. This vital work connects directly to our strategy in Israel to support trauma and PTSD relief.

On June 12th, we attended the closing meeting of a team that had just completed this journey. The grant funded a comprehensive processing model for a team of Duvdevan (elite unit) veterans, now aged 41–42, most of whom still serve in active reserves. This model is both unique and crucial: it focuses on older veterans (27+) who are struggling with the real-world, long-term impacts of combat trauma on their adult lives, families, and careers. They belong to a generation in which seeking emotional support was far less accepted than it is today, and most had never processed their experiences together before.

The journey included personal interviews, opening days, an intensive eight-day disconnected experience in overseas forests, a closing meeting, and three to five ongoing follow-up sessions.

Hearing them share their experiences was deeply moving. Here is a glimpse of the impact our grant made:

"Suddenly, after all these years, we sat together and talked about everything... This journey opened a safe space to share things you can't truly explain at home, things only someone who was there in the mud with me could understand. I returned with personal confidence, new tools, and a sense of emotional relief I haven't felt in a long time. This experience was out-of-body for me. It healed something in my heart."

"This goes way beyond just us – the ripple effects are insane. It’s my partner, my kids, my workplace. Everyone went through this with me. Because I can talk about it now, and because my own behavior is more understood, it changes how I react and impacts my entire environment."

"I've been with these guys for over 20 years. Even though I thought I knew them, I didn't realize how much each of us was carrying. This connected us on a [level of] depth we never had before."

The Bishvil HaMachar team asked us to convey their deepest gratitude to the Mayberg Foundation for making this possible, and for giving them the space and opportunity to heal. In response, we shared that it is an absolute privilege to support the brave individuals who have given so much to Israel. Thank you for making this profound healing possible.