New Military Prep Program Honors Four Soldiers Killed in Gaza
A new pre-military preparatory program, named "The Four," has been established in northern Israel to honor four reservists who were killed together in the Gaza Strip in November 2023. The program, located in Eliad on the Golan Heights, will enroll 18- to 20-year-old participants from traditionalist, religious, and Orthodox backgrounds for a ten-month period before their army or national civic service. The program pays tribute to reserve commander Moshe Yedidya Leiter, Master Sergeant Yossi Hershkovitz, and Master Sergeants Sergey Shmerkin and Matan Meir. These four soldiers, serving in the 697th Battalion of the 551st Brigade, died on November 10, 2023, when a booby-trapped tunnel shaft exploded near a mosque in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza.
Moshe Yedidya Leiter was the son of Yechiel Leiter, Israel's current ambassador to the United States. The "The Four" program, created by the Nitzotz network of the Ma'ase Center in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs, will combine service preparation, leadership training, physical activities, field exercises, agricultural work, and volunteering. Participants will also receive guidance on recruitment and placement, with individual support aimed at developing discipline, self-confidence, and autonomy. Courses on Israeli identity, society, and leadership will be offered alongside marches and orientation exercises.
The program's location on the Golan Heights is intended to allow participants to support local communities and agricultural farms that have been affected by years of conflict. Yaakov Hershkovitz, Yossi Hershkovitz's father, stated, "We want to train a generation that does not just ask what the country can give it, but first what it can contribute to the country." He added, "Service in the IDF begins long before enlistment day. It begins with values, responsibility, love of country, the ability to lead, to volunteer, and to face difficulties." The families of the fallen soldiers aimed to transform their loss into a lasting educational project focused on responsibility, camaraderie, and commitment to Israeli society. The four soldiers were Yossi Hershkovitz, 44, a school principal in Jerusalem; Matan Meir, 38, a producer known for the Israeli series "Fauda"; Moshe Yedidya Leiter, 39, a company commander, medic, and medical student; and Sergey Shmerkin, 32, a reservist from Kiryat Shmona.
