We are the Egoz Foundation – a non-profit organisation of Egoz Unit veterans. Our goal is to care for unit veterans, their families, and Israeli society.
With us, each Egoz Unit veteran has the opportunity to reach their highest potential. Egoz Foundation was established after the Yom Kippur War and consists of unit veterans and bereaved families. The foundation’s goals include nurturing the unit, its fighters and veterans, and perpetuating the memory of the unit’s fallen. The foundation members volunteer their skills and time.
Since October 7, we have all mobilised for the mission: family, friends, volunteers, donors, and many good people, all with one goal – to provide support, assistance, and companionship to the Egoz warriors and their families. From the start, we understood that there were many needs requiring urgent assistance. To this end, we established five active command centres:
To accompany, support, and assist bereaved families and commemorate our friends and brothers. A command centre was established under the auspices of the Foundation, working continuously with the casualties department of the Egoz unit and the casualties officers of various reserve brigades. A team was formed solely dedicated to accompanying the unit’s families and wounded. Each family had a representative from the Foundation who accompanied them and took care of all their needs. After providing assistance during the seven-day mourning period and the 30-day memorial, we continue to commemorate our friends and brothers by establishing memorials, spreading their stories of heroism and sacrifice, and giving lectures on their deeds to future generations. We will never forget their heroism and contributions to the people of Israel.
Accompanying the wounded and their families from the moment of injury through the long rehabilitation: providing legal, financial, health, and psychological assistance to cover all their needs. We worked in cooperation with the unit’s casualties department and the casualties officers of the reserve brigades, visiting homes and hospitals. Currently, the unit has over 300 wounded soldiers, 236 of whom were injured in the “Iron Swords” battles. The wounded soldiers are undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, receiving the best medical care. The Egoz Foundation works to provide them with a support network and address all their unmet needs. As part of the command centre’s activities, each wounded soldier received a package worth approximately 4,000 shekels to make their hospital stay as pleasant as possible. We rented two apartments for the wounded in central Tel Aviv to provide them with full support and accompaniment. We focus on mental and physical health, training, and enrichment.
In the early days of the war, there were significant gaps in equipment, food, and supplies reported by the fighters in the field. Everyone mobilised to help. We contacted all the teams in Egoz – regular and reserve – and understood the needs arising from the field and found solutions. With the help of incredible donors from Israel and abroad and various command centres across the country, we established a system including two logistics centres containing a wide range of equipment – hygiene supplies, warm clothing, ceramic vests, drones, and more. Through a transportation network and the amazing assistance of about 480 volunteers, we provided about 70,000 food and treat packages and still supply equipment worth tens of millions of shekels to thousands of unit fighters and soldiers to ensure that every soldier in the unit and reserves can perform their role in the most comfortable, professional, and safe manner.
We recruited a team of therapists to provide emotional support, assistance, companionship, and sometimes just a hug and a calming word to the fighters and veterans who need it.
As part of our support for families at home, allowing our fighters to defend Israel, and to maintain morale and spirit, we invested in creating a warm space at the command centre. Volunteers and soldiers can come home, refresh, stock up, and continue the mission. Additionally, we maintain close ties with the families of unit and reserve soldiers so they can perform their missions knowing that someone is taking care of their families when they are not home. To boost morale, thousands of shirts, hats, bags, stickers, and more were distributed.
In recent months, we have travelled to the USA, Belgium, the Netherlands, and England. We spoke at dozens of events about our strength as a unit, our activities during the war, and our collective power as Egoz members.
Want to invite us for a delegation to your location? Contact us.