Tel Aviv—Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) supported more than 50,000 IDF soldiers during the first-ever national appreciation week for IDF soldiers in Israel, June 29-July 8, held in partnership with the IDF and Yachad Le’maan Ha’chayal (The Association for the Well-being of Israel’s Soldiers and The LIBI Fund).

The inaugural “IDF Appreciation Week” opened with a “Fun Day” of rest and recuperation on June 29 for more than 6,000 “lone soldiers”—IDF soldiers with no immediate family in Israel—at Israel’s largest waterpark, just outside of Tel Aviv. There are some 6,550 lone soldiers from 80 countries serving in the IDF today. About 826 came from the United States, 582 from Ukraine, 531 from Russia and 515 from France.

During the weeklong series of events, FIDF distributed gift packages to more than 17,000 combat soldiers through its Adopt-a-Battalion Program; sent five ice cream trucks to visit more than 34,000 soldiers on IDF combat bases across the country; and, in partnership with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship), gathered 15,000 IDF soldiers for music, food and live entertainment at the IDF’s training campus in the Negev.