What we IDF reservists really need: Fishing rods, not fish

When I was a child, I heard the famous parable told again and again: Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.

I didn’t quite understand back then why I would ever need to learn how to fish when I could just go to the fish store.

It was only later, during my service as a combat soldier, that I understood how important a fishing rod really is. In fact, I learned firsthand that for many army veterans, a fishing rod is not a luxury – it’s a life-changing tool.

As the war in Gaza continues to rage on for over two years, a recent survey by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics has exposed some extremely troubling figures regarding the financial distress facing IDF reservists and their families: About a third (34%) of reservists’ families are experiencing financial hardships as a result of their reserve duty. The Bureau notes that “the more reserve days there are, the greater the financial hardship.”

The fact that one out of three of these returning heroes face economic hardship is quite a disturbing number, but behind those statistics are real people facing real emergencies. These are the very reservists we meet at Path For Tomorrow, the nonprofit I lead, which conducts nature-based group retreats for IDF veterans to help them process their combat experiences and military trauma.

Of the reservists who take part in these journeys, many have described how they hide their debts from their wives, how they were forced to take a loan right before October 7 to keep themselves afloat, how they continue to struggle just to keep their jobs.

But the hardships aren’t only financial. For many returning from combat, they do not come back to the same home they left: They return to parenthood and relationships demanding their full presence – even when their souls are still unsettled.

Losing one’s job, the inability to be a fully attentive father, or partner – these are often the results for someone carrying months of difficult combat on their backs.

If we don’t give these people real coping tools – “fishing rods” – we cannot expect growing rates of unemployment, divorce, and mental health crises to diminish. Quite the opposite.

When a discharged soldier or reservist is given the emotional tools to process what they’ve been through, to relearn how to be a parent, a partner, or an employee, to undergo a journey of release and renewal – only then are they able to return to life alongside their families and communities.

Six months ago, the Israeli Employment Service reported that 41% of reservists had either been fired or had resigned. What surprises me is that the parable of the fishing rod that I learned even as a child seems to have been lost on our decision-makers. Yes, veterans are given economic benefits following their service. But alongside these allowances, we must also invest in real preparation for their life after war. Without that, it’s not deep healing – it’s just a band-aid.

Following Operation Protective Edge, in Gaza, where the reserve unit I commanded faced the shadow of death on a daily basis, I felt that the “normal” life I was returning to – work, family, even simple tasks – had become incomprehensibly difficult. I soon realized that the question wasn’t whether I would manage to show up for my next army call-up, but whether I’d manage to show up for life.

That’s when I went on a processing journey with several other senior IDF commanders.

I divide my life into “before and after” that journey.

When I came back, I decided to take the people from my unit on a similar journey. When I witnessed the incredible effect it had on these former combatants, I understood it was time to make such healing journeys available to all of our fighters.

Today, 10,500 reservists are on the waiting list for such retreats. If we can provide this passage to everyone coming back from the battlefield, we can offer real solutions to an increasingly difficult problem here in Israel – one which is only growing.

Processing retreats to help veterans cope with combat experiences and trauma are part of the solution for a healthier civilian society in Israel, one that offers the ability to recover to those who have risked everything to protect their country.