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Itongadol.- Over four hundred “lone soldiers” from around the IDF were invited for a special Passover seder Friday night in the central city of Hadera.
The ritual seder meal, held in conjunction with the Friends of the IDF and the IDF Education Corps, hosted 420 men and women — both officers and soldiers — ranks from a large variety of units within the military in a resort village in the Givat Olga neighborhood located approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Tel Aviv.
This was the 14th annual seder held for lone soldiers, a classification given to orphaned personnel or those that do not have a connection with their living parents, in addition to those who do not have at least one parent within the country.
Thousands of foreign-born military personnel classify under this special status, as many immigrate to Israel alone or serve through Mahal — an organization within the IDF that allows Jewish non-citizens of Israel from around the world to volunteer for a select amount of time.
Although many new immigrant lone soldiers and foreign-born volunteers face language difficulties upon conscription to the IDF, they serve alongside Israeli counterparts in units throughout the military.
During Operation Protective Edge, last summer’s conflict with Hamas, three lone soldiers from the Golani Brigade — Max Steinberg and Sean Carmeli from the United States, and Jordan Bensemhoun from France — were killed in action following intense fighting within the Gaza Strip.