How US ‘charities’ recruit Americans for Israel’s war in Gaza and mask it with propaganda

By Maryam Qarehgozlou

A vast network of US-based so-called "charitable" organizations has been funneling millions of dollars to support the “Lone Soldier” programs across the country, recruiting and supporting thousands of young Americans to join Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

The term “lone soldier” typically refers to soldiers serving in the Israeli military without the support of their families in the occupied territories. Such individuals may include immigrants, international volunteers, orphans, or those hailing from broken families.

According to a recent tax forms analysis conducted by The Intercept, since 2020, these American organizations, working under the cover of charities, have collectively spent over $26 million to recruit and support lone soldiers from initial drafting to reintegration.

This aid encompasses a wide array of resources to Israeli military units, including but not limited to subsidized apartments, therapy, wellness retreats, and equipment.

A review of five years of tax documents shows that 2023, since the Israeli regime began its genocidal war on Gaza, was the most profitable year on record for lone soldier programs.

The Intercept's analysis revealed that US-based nonprofits allocated a substantial $8.8 million to various lone soldier programs in 2023 alone. Pertinently, this figure could potentially be even higher, as current regulations only mandate the reporting of foreign grants exceeding a certain amount.

That suggests that the true extent of financial support for these programs may be greater than what has been officially documented so far due to the extreme secrecy involved.

Following Hamas-led unprecedented Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Zionist occupation on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military had to mobilize hundreds of thousands of reluctant reservists.

However, with an estimated 100,000 Israeli soldiers refusing to serve, the military has faced its most significant recruitment challenge in decades.

As the genocidal war on Gaza approaches its second year, volunteers from Israel’s closest ally and partner-in-crime, the United States, and other nations are expected to provide reinforcements.

Annually, between 2002 and 2020, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 lone soldiers served in the Israeli military, with roughly one-third of them hailing from North America.

Since the events of October 7, it is believed that approximately 7,000 lone soldiers from the US have either enlisted or returned to the Israeli-occupied territories for service.

Last year, the Israeli military reported that a minimum of 23,000 American citizens were actively serving, comprising both lone soldiers and Americans who immigrated to the occupied Palestinian territories with their families.

This comes while the US has been steadily supplying lethal weapons to Israel for use in Gaza.

Since October 7, 2023, the US has sent more than $20 billion in weapons and military aid to assist Israel in its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, where Israeli soldiers have killed more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

While these figures are broadly acknowledged by the UN and various international institutions, it is believed that the actual death toll may be even higher, with some estimates reaching 80,000 or more.

Nevut

Nevut, a New York-based so-called "charity" founded by Ari Abramowitz in 2017, actively supports American “lone soldiers” who enlist in the Israeli occupation military.

Abramowitz, a native of Rockland County in New York, is both a veteran of the Netzach Yehuda Battalion and an Israeli military reservist.

This all-male ultra-Orthodox battalion unit, formerly known as Nahal Haredi, is part of the Kfir Brigade within the Israeli military.

Israel's genocide tourism

In today’s show, we’ll be exposing the lengths to which the Zionist entity goes, in recruiting people from outside Israel, to join its glorified killing machine, otherwise known as the Israeli Occupation forces.

In 2024, the United States contemplated imposing sanctions on the battalion due to its human rights violations during raids on the occupied West Bank, but ultimately did not pursue these sanctions due to pressure from Israeli regime leadership.

With 12 chapters spanning across 22 US states, Nevut assists thousands of American lone soldiers returning from Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has been characterized by relentless bombing, displacement, and starvation of the 2.3 million civilian population of the besieged territory.

Serving Israeli 'Hasbara'

In addition to supporting the Israeli military, these organizations are dedicated to serving Hasbara, a Hebrew term for propaganda aimed at downplaying Israeli war crimes against Palestinians and manipulating the narrative for international audiences.

Nevut uses social media to advise people on “What not to ask a lone soldier,” including: “Did you kill anyone?” “How many people died over there?” and “Were you in Gaza or Lebanon?”

“These can potentially feel like dismissive, political, or emotionally charged questions,” the post claims.

These so-called "nonprofits" also organize events, such as speaking tours, where lone soldiers whitewash the Israeli military's horrendous war crimes against civilians in Gaza.

Lone soldier Eli Wininger, at an event in an Alabama church put on by the Massachusetts-based lone soldier organization Growing Wings earlier this year, claimed he was instructed “not to kill Palestinian children.”

“There is not a single soldier in there that is doing that,” he said, while, according to the UN, at least 50,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Wininger is a Los Angeles native, and recently returned to the United States after serving in Gaza as a member of the Israeli military.

He was enlisted in 2016 in Sayeret Egoz, a unit north of occupied Palestine focused on assaults against Lebanon and the Hezbollah resistance movement. He spent three and a half years as a commander in that unit.

He again enlisted on October 10, 2023, and joined the war only three days after the regime launched its all-out aggression against the people in the besieged Palestinian territory.

He has recently started a volunteer position as a youth leader with the notorious so-called charity “Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF),” which is an official partner of the Israeli military.

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF)

Headquartered in New York City, FIDF has 25 regional offices in the US and one office in Latin America, according to reports.

Since its founding in 1981, it has worked tirelessly to garner support for the Israeli military and its war campaigns across the West Asia region, from Gaza to Syria to Yemen.

Raising tens of millions of dollars annually, the FIDF funds various programs that essentially subsidize the Israeli military by offering an array of services and benefits for Israeli troops.

Its wide-ranging initiatives include providing scholarships for soldiers, financing construction projects, supporting wounded troops, and facilitating donations to sponsor foreign-born soldiers serving in the Israeli military or entire military units.

It also channels major donations from a host of powerful billionaires toward these programs.

On its website, it describes itself as “the single organization authorized to collect charitable donations on behalf of the soldiers of the [Israeli military] across the United States.”

On its Instagram page, the group says it is the “only US non-profit working directly” with Israeli military leadership "to provide critical support for Israeli soldiers’ health, well-being & education.”

In 2022, the FIDF reported nearly $175 million in net assets, demonstrating its substantial financial influence.

The organization's lavish galas often feature high-profile celebrities and raise millions of dollars in a single event. From 2018 to 2022, the FIDF amassed approximately $450 million in gifts, grants, contributions, and membership fees, further highlighting its robust funding network.

Following the events of October 7, 2023, the organization managed to raise over $50 million in a matter of weeks.

Speakers at FIDF galas include top Israeli political and military leaders like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, a retired Israeli general and member of the Israeli Knesset.

The FIDF's leadership also has deep ties to the Israeli regime.

One past CEO, Meir Klifi, served as a military secretary to Ehud Olmert and Netanyahu before joining the FIDF, and another past CEO, Yitzhak (Jerry) Gershon, was a major-general in the Israeli army.

Earlier this year, FIDF came under scrutiny for inviting donors to a talk by Israeli military intelligence veteran Eliyahu Yossian, known for his remarks advocating for extreme aggression against Gaza.

He has said that “there are no innocents in Gaza” and that Israel should attack Gaza “with the aim of revenge, zero morality, maximum corpses.”

Yossian has also said, “There is no population in Gaza, there are 2.5 million terrorists.”

FIDF’s flagship “Lone Soldier” program offers support to over 6,500 lone soldiers annually, as per Internal Revenue Service documents.

Since 2020, the FIDF has invested nearly $20 million into this initiative, providing foreign-born recruits in the Israeli military with financial aid, holiday vouchers, housing, flights home, and recreational activities.

In 2022 alone, the organization spent approximately $5.8 million on flights for lone soldiers and an additional $5.5 million on economic relief packages, illustrating the program’s considerable financial commitment to these individuals.

A 2018 Haaretz report on the FIDF’s Lone Soldier program noted that young Jewish adults “often learn about foreign-born IDF recruits, so-called ‘lone soldiers’ on sponsored trips to Israel or college campuses.”

The article further stated that hundreds of American teenagers and college graduates choose to enlist in the Israeli military each year, with extensive backing from various American Jewish organizations.

FIDF and The Henry Jackson Society (HJS), a right-wing, Islamophobic, and Zionist think tank that advocates for military intervention policies, share funders.

HJS last year alleged that the Gaza Ministry of Health is overstating casualty figures resulting from the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, facing intense criticism online.

Tzofim Garin Tzabar

Garin Tzabar is a New York City-based program that provides support to young individuals from various countries who opt to serve in the Israeli military as lone soldiers.

The program runs two major drafting sessions each year, attracting members primarily from North America but also from Europe, Australia, Africa, and other regions.

Funded by Tzofim, the largest Zionist youth movement in the occupied Palestinian territories and the US, Garin Tzabar actively engages in recruitment efforts targeting American teens through shared-school engagement initiatives in high schools and campus visits.

Certain schools, notably Jewish day schools in the US, have been observed promoting or normalizing enlistment via alumni visits or talks by veterans in uniform.

A former Zionist youth leader from Australia, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fear of professional backlash, told The Intercept that Tzofim begins influencing children as young as five years old, instilling Zionist beliefs.

As soon as they turn 18, the former leader said, they’re of military age and they’re indoctrinated and groomed and brainwashed, and they’re ready to fight the battle.

Bayit Brigade

Bayit Brigade, with operations in both the US and the occupied Palestinian territories, offers assistance to lone soldiers by facilitating affordable housing in Tel Aviv and raising emergency funds for transportation and supplies in the field.

Videos shared by the organization have showcased volunteers providing resources to the Israeli military's Yahalom Unit, which is involved in “tunnel warfare” and demolitions in Gaza, often clearing areas to enable Israeli military offensives.

The organization's revenue experienced a significant increase, rising from around $160,000 in 2022 to $1.3 million in 2023, as indicated by nonprofit documents.

In addition to Bayit Brigade, other organizations such as the Lone Soldier Project by the Israel Forever Foundation in Washington and Ach Gadol for Lone Soldiers (AGI) based in Texas also support lone soldiers through stipends, housing, mentorship, support networks, and advocacy platforms on US college campuses.

The activities of lone soldier programs are raising concerns regarding recruitment pipelines, transparency issues, blurred lines between humanitarian and military support, and ethical implications in light of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Although US federal law bans recruiting for foreign armies within the country’s borders, it allows for donations and the promotion of foreign volunteering.

Experts assert that it is challenging to determine where, if at all, efforts to encourage American teenagers to join the Israeli military could potentially violate US policy on foreign fighting.

The ongoing military supplies, combined with the notable presence of American citizens serving in the Israeli military, underscore the multifaceted nature of US involvement in the onslaught in Gaza.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk