Israel's Education Minister Naftali Bennet ("Jewish House") unveiled a new program designed to help parents of single soldiers visit their children in Israel.
"Lone soldiers" are IDF soldiers who do not live with their parents. Approximately 2,900 of the 6,000 single soldiers who currently serve, have parents living abroad. And many of the parents do not have the financial means to visit their children in Israel.
The Bennett Initiative, if implemented, will include flights, tours and accommodation in Israel. Soldiers will also receive special leave to spend time with their parents arriving. Lone soldiers are highly valued in Israeli family-oriented society, and the government provides them with significant assistance during the service. So, soldiers who have parents abroad get the right to a fully funded flight home. Once a year, single soldiers receive a week's leave to visit their families