Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, the number of at-risk youths in Israel has increased, according to Shimon Abuchatzeira, the head of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF)’s Department for At-Risk Youth. For KKL-JNF, assisting them has been one of the priorities of the organization’s multiple endeavors to support Israelis in need.
Established in 2021, the Department for At-Risk Youth has utilized the organization’s vast experience in education and the land of Israel to create positive frameworks for teens who have dropped out of school, placing them in fields such as agriculture, carpentry, and bicycle riding instruction, and helping them regain their self-confidence, act responsibly, and ultimately reconnect with society. KKL-JNF is currently operating programs for at-risk youth in thirty-four municipalities in Israel.
Abuchatzeira explains that the department was created in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, when many schools were closed, or classes were conducted remotely. As a result of the physical disconnect, the high school dropout rate rapidly increased.
The outbreak of the war on October 7, he adds, led to increased numbers of students leaving their high school studies. Teens have dropped out during the war due to a number of reasons. Some found that the pressures and traumas of the war made studying difficult, if not impossible. Many students have lost family members in the fighting. A significant number of students were evacuated from their homes in Israel’s southern and northern areas, were sent to hotels with their families, and found themselves bereft of an academic and social framework in unfamiliar locations. Some began to drink alcohol and take drugs.
Since October 7, KKL-JNF has been working with youth who have been evacuated and are staying in hotels in Jerusalem and Tiberias, in addition to the many whom the organization had been assisting before the war started.
According to Abuchatzeira, many teens in the KKL-JNF program for at-risk youth traveled to Israel’s northern border and the Gaza border to assist soldiers, bringing and preparing food and supplies for them. Bringing supplies to the soldiers, he says, connected them to the society around them, and to values such as giving and mutual responsibility.
Since the beginning of the war, the youth assisted by KKL-JNF has distributed some 30,000 hot meals to soldiers. In addition, many teens have been visiting those wounded in the fighting and helping them with several activities.
“We are talking about teenagers who were going through difficult experiences before we connected with them, but everyone has been very eager to volunteer in these difficult times,” says Abuchatzeira.
