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By Susan R. Eisenstein: Nugget Series: Establishing Security-Settlement communities, Warrior Networks, and Support Centers Across Israel.

 

This is another piece in my “Nugget” series. I have designed these pieces to allow Israelis and Jews in the diaspora to express things that are important to them, to our people and to take us on their personal journeys that perhaps are not well known—yet. And each “Nugget” piece can also teach us something.

 

This “Nugget” is about Israeli Itamar Hayun and updates on his current project  “Homes for Warriors.” Itamar Hayun is 33 years old. He is an author of four books, including “The Elite Warrior Mindset,” which is available in an English edition. Hayun’s long-term goal is to translate his book into additional languages and use it to start a broader international conversation about supporting warriors and building strong communities. Hayun is also a podcaster, social entrepreneur, business consultant, strategist and active combat reservist. And very importantly, Itamar Hayun is the Founder of “Homes for Warriors,” a national movement, an initiative that has quickly grown into a groundbreaking movement establishing security-settlement communities, warrior networks, and support centers across Israel.

 

And while I have written about Itamar Hayun previously, there are current updates about “Homes for Warriors” that need to be known. Hayun’s initiative deserves the attention of all Jews, everywhere. It is one way that we can fight for our historical homeland and the people who defend their families and us. And his project also speaks to the debt that we owe them.

 

Currently, Itamar Hayun and his partners are working to build a fund that will provide each combat soldier, reservist, and their family with a financial grant together with a low-interest mortgage, helping them move to border regions. Itamar Hayun explains. “By doing this, we can strengthen the borders not only in the Gaza envelope, but also in the North near Lebanon. I believe this is exactly the time to strengthen our borders through the people who defend them. The real way to do it is by physically settling hundreds of thousands of families of combat soldiers and reservists along Israel’s borders. This is exactly what we are working on now.”

 

Hayun points out that “the Zionist movement in the 1920s, even before the establishment of the State of Israel, together with the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund, purchased land in Israel.” And now, purchasing land in Israel has become one of Hayun’s new goals for “Homes for Warriors.”

 

To achieve his goals, Itamar has begun building partnerships that include the Eshkol Regional Council in the Gaza Envelope area, together with The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Fund for Discharged Soldiers, and the Tkuma Directorate, which is responsible for rebuilding and strengthening the communities in the region after October 7th. The goal is for the Jewish Agency to eventually provide an umbrella for the broader fundraising effort, together with additional partners and organizations that are now joining the initiative. In recent weeks, many large organizations have approached Itamar for cooperation, because they understand the long-term strategic importance of this initiative — both from a national security perspective and from the need to support the soldiers who defend the country. And initial funding has recently been received to run a pilot and begin marketing. The team has been assembled and the outreach process is now starting.

 

Itamar Hayun said, “at the moment, our main focus is moving from planning into implementation—specifically beginning to bring the first families to the Gaza Envelope communities. In those communities, the land already belongs to the State. Over the past months, we have been building the infrastructure: meetings with the regional council, tours in Kerem Shalom, Holit, and Sufa, preparing the landing page, CRM systems, and the marketing campaign. The goal now is to begin the first stage of bringing families to live in the area, starting with a small and careful pilot.”

 

“In the Gaza Envelope, our work is focused on helping reservist families purchase homes within existing kibbutzim and communities, not necessarily buying land directly. The larger vision is to help settle hundreds and eventually thousands of families of combat soldiers and reservists along Israel’s borders, beginning in the Gaza Envelope and later expanding to the northern border. We are also exploring strategic land opportunities in places like the Negev and Ma’ale Adumim. In the northern region, we have already helped several families relocate to communities where they are currently living in temporary rental housing until a permanent housing solution can be created.”

 

But there is a broader issue that Itamar Hayun and partners are also focused on here. With 60% of Israel being the Negev, the Negev may well now be slipping out of Jewish hands. Hayun told Israel Seen, “today, demographically, many experts warn that within a few years we could lose the Jewish majority in large parts of the Negev. Additionally, many Jewish families are moving toward the center of the country, where life is easier and more developed. This creates a growing imbalance. In simple terms, we are slowly losing our demographic presence in the Negev. That is why we believe it is so important to invest in the region and help strong communities grow there. As David Ben-Gurion famously said, “The future of Israel will be tested in the Negev.” We see our work as part of continuing that vision—bringing families, especially reservists who have served the country, to build their homes and communities there.”

 

Hayun said, “Many of these fighters give everything to protect Israel and the Jewish people, yet in their personal lives, they often struggle to afford housing and end up living from rental to rental without the ability to build stability for their families. In many ways, the communities near Gaza will rebuild and grow again with or without us. But the Negev is the real strategic frontier for the future of Israel. We believe our mission is to help ensure that strong communities — especially families of those who defend the country — will be part of that future.”

 

“The mission of Homes for Warriors is not only about housing. It is about resilience, responsibility, and ensuring that the people who defend the country also have the opportunity to build their homes and lives in the land they protect.

 

And the lesson in this “Nuggets” piece. Well, in addition to what Itamar Hayun has already said, it is all about values, empathy, finding tools to create something immediately meaningful and having the courage to forge ahead to turn hardship into strength and creation, for a people and a nation that stands consistently in harm’s way, simply for the right to exist.

 

For more information:

Phone +972544377361 WhatsApp

Info@itamarhayun.co.il

Website coming soon: Coming Soon – Beit LaLochem