First in Eilat: Home Front Center Opens Branch for Wounded Residents
Every week, Vadim Sholzinenko, 41, a resident of Eilat and father of three, makes the long trip from his home to central Israel. Sholzinenko, a reserve soldier in Givati, was wounded in Gaza in September 2025, when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by three explosive charges in Rafah. The four fighters with him were killed, and he was the only survivor. “I’m getting treatment at Sheba Tel Hashomer, and in Eilat I only have a psychologist,” he says. “There is no rehabilitation here at all, and that is a real problem for us. Every week I’m in the center, and it is a very difficult trip, especially when you have a family with small children in the background.”
This week, a new address opened for him and for hundreds of other wounded people in the city, as the Yad LaBanim organization inaugurated for the first time in Eilat a branch of Beit HaLochem, which will serve wounded IDF soldiers and security forces personnel living in the city. The branch was established out of the understanding that alongside medical treatment, many wounded people also need a close community, a supportive framework, and a readily available address near where they live. The need is only growing, since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, more than 25,000 new wounded have joined the Yad LaBanim family. There are currently five large Beit HaLochem centers operating in Israel, in Beersheba, Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, and another Beit HaLochem is expected to open soon in Ashdod, at an investment of about 200 million shekels. Alongside them, the organization has also begun establishing smaller Beit HaLochem centers as part of the “House” project, and the Eilat branch is the first in it.
According to Yuval Harel, the organization’s manager of the “House” project, another ten such branches are expected to open. “The goal is to make Beit HaLochem activity accessible to wounded people throughout the country,” he explains. “The large Beit HaLochem centers are somewhat far for some of the wounded, and we understood that a large share of them, especially wounded from ‘Swords of Iron,’ are not coming to the existing centers for a wide range of reasons,” Harel adds. “Among them are geographic distance, the size of the house, the sense of belonging, the initial need for a small community, and more. We spoke with many wounded people and understood that they long for a quieter, smaller place where everyone knows everyone.”
About 600 wounded people currently live in Eilat, 250 of them wounded in “Swords of Iron.” “The large centers cannot provide for everyone,” Harel says. “The goal is not to bring the wounded person to Beit HaLochem, but to bring Beit HaLochem to the wounded person. And that is the vision of the ‘House’ project. The house is open to everyone, and we do not forget the ‘veteran’ wounded.” The new branch will offer sports and leisure activities, support groups, lectures, social initiatives and family activities, alongside creating a local community that will accompany the wounded beyond treatment itself.
For Vadim, the very meeting with other wounded people is a central part of rehabilitation. “Everyone there has post-trauma, and that is דווקא what is good, you are surrounded by soldiers and people who understand what happened in the war, who understand you,” he says. “In central Israel there are many Beit HaLochem centers, and here there was nothing. When they opened Beit HaLochem, I suddenly met a lot of fighters who live not far from me, and it gave me the feeling that I am not alone,” he says. “At Sheba I get treatments, but I do not always have time for more than that. Here I will also be able to take part in activities and meet other people in my situation.
“Besides that, it is important to remember that it is not only us, the soldiers, who have post-trauma, the families do too. It is very hard for my wife, and at Beit HaLochem in Eilat there is also a place for her, and here she will be able to meet the wives of reservists who are going through similar things and can understand her.”
Asaf Nequi, a resident of Eilat and reserve soldier who completed more than 500 days in the war and is now dealing with post-trauma, also sees the new branch as much more than an address for treatment. “Since I returned from reserve duty, my life looks different,” he says. “Rehabilitation is not only what happens in treatment or in a meeting with a professional, but also what happens in between, on the ordinary days, in the moments when you need someone to talk to or a place to feel that you belong.
“For me, this house is much more than a physical place,” he adds. “It is an opportunity to build a community, meet people who understand the path I am going through, and get strength to keep moving forward.”
