Me ro IDF Lt. Anaelle Alaa says that over the 30 years the program has been conducted, different things have been tried, but female 0 commanders work best. a. "Women are much more sensitive and have much better communication skills:' he explained. "They come with energy, with special spirit and values and with a lot of ideology." He adds the practical consideration that the young men "usually will not hit their [female] commanders." Heymann believes "the secret of success" is that young women like her "haven't experienced such prob- lems in their life. They will believe that he can be a soldier — they don't just say it, they actually believe it. They really fall in love with the soldiers: they don't just see who they are, but what they can be. They know he's not a bad person, but he acts like this because he's had such bad things in his life." "It was a very cool look into what the soldiers who are - Shiro Moree, Franklin having a hard time in their lives do to get into the army:' said Jesse Adler, 14, of Farmington Hills, who attended the film with her mother. "I really enjoyed it because I know a little Hebrew [the film was in Hebrew with English subtitles], and it's a side of Israel I've never seen!' Shiro Moree of Franklin, an Israeli who is on the Marwil Film Festival committee, said, "It brings back memories from my service. But where I served disci- pline was never an issue. The commander said some- thing, you listened, and you did what you were told. The fact the military takes an active role in bettering Israeli society and not just military goals is admirable." The two IDF commanders also visited Hillel Day School in Farmington Hills and Akiva Hebrew Day School in Southfield. "We explained that people living in Israel are just like us, and some of them have struggles:' said Rob Bardach, Hillel's division head for grades 5-8. He helped prepare the kids for the soldiers visit. "It's not just a military mission; it's a national social "I saw in the kids a realization of something about mission:' explained Lt. Anaelle Heymann, a 21-year-old Israel, about not turning your back on a segment of platoon commander at Havat HaShomer (Farm of the society and the need to help those who need special Watchman). "We want him to be a productive citizen, not assistance he said. "The kids were blown away about a burden on society, and to have a regular, normal family what was said about pride, honor, self-respect and self- and a good life." discipline. It went very well with what we work to teach The staff reviews the records of those refused enlist- them." ment and works to convince them to enter the program. The film shows how the team of officers discusses each individual and works to instill discipline, teach skills and You Can Help provide support and encouragement so they will succeed. FIDF's Eitan Program helps support the young sol- It's not easy, but Alaa says that over the past five years, diers graduating from the Havat HaShomer Base the program has an 85 pecent success rate, with about 70 by advancing their integration into the military and percent then fulfilling their three-year IDF commitment. society, supplying them with tools to complete mili- "It is really an amazing place he said of his base. "The tary service and with vocational training once they excitement you feel during the movie is what we feel complete their service. For more information and to every day. The [graduation] ceremony you saw at the base donate, go to www.fidf.org . is the most exciting ceremony in the IDE" His enthusiasm and commitment to the IDF and Israeli society is even more impressive because he isn't Jewish, but a member of the Druze community that has distin- guished itself in the IDF since the founding of the state. An Israeli success story himself, he has just received his Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan. "The fact the military takes an active role in bettering Israeli society and not just military goals is admirable." Heymann and Shiro Moree of Franklin Miss ommander! IDF's special base aims to ease troubled young men into military service. Don Cohen Special to the Jewish News T he colonel who is the commander of Havat HaShomer — an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) base between Nazareth and Tiberias in the north of Israel — is no softie. He's a battle-tested paratrooper and among an elite group of Israel soldiers. Nonetheless, he says he cries almost every day. "I see soldiers who start with nothing and finish, sometimes, with the first success in their life — and with hope," he told an audience of more than 200 people at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. Col. Alaa (last name withheld) was in Detroit to talk about the special base he commands that provides a last chance to young Israeli men who have been refused entry into the IDF because of personal problems. These can be a criminal record, a history of violence, drug or alcohol addiction, educational failure, an inability to work with others or follow orders, or a combination that adds up to something the IDF isn't equipped to handle. That's where Col. Alaa and his base of women commanders comes in. The dramatic, challenging, raw and very human story of their intervention in the lives of these troubled 18- and 19- year-olds, is told in the 2009 Israeli film Yes, Miss Commander, which was shown Feb. 10 by the Michigan Chapter of the Friends of the IDF in cooperation with the JCC Marwil Jewish Film Festival. 18 February 17 2011 Tough Yet Compassionate Many in the audience were interested in knowing why these tough young men were assigned female commanders. 0 0