Leadership program honoring Yossi Tahar ends with emotional final event at Nitzanim

A yearlong youth leadership program in memory of Yossi Tahar, run by Hashomer Hatzair, ended last weekend with a closing event at the Ziv Neurim sea center on Nitzanim Beach. The program brought together boys and girls from across Israel for months of learning, personal growth, social action, and value-based education.

The initiative commemorates Tahar, a Shin Bet fighter and Shayetet 13 commander who was killed on October 7 while saving many lives. It combines weekly meetings, mental and physical training, ethical study, and practical experience, with the aim of cultivating a new generation of leaders rooted in Zionism, personal responsibility, giving, and social involvement. In some local councils, including Julis and Majdal Shams, it runs in partnership with Kerem El.

The final day included joint activities with Ziv Neurim, an organization that uses the sea to build resilience and leadership. The teenagers surfed and took part in other maritime and team-building exercises, alongside discussions about teamwork, coping with challenges, personal accountability, and leading by example.

Eli Tahar, chairman of the Yad L’Banim organization and Yossi’s father, attended and said he was deeply moved. “If each one takes one thing from Yossi and carries it all the way, I guarantee success and that they will go far,” he said. He called Hashomer Hatzair’s work to preserve his son’s legacy, together with Yossi’s friends, “a sacred task” and said it fulfilled his family’s dream.

Program director Eitan Ben Tzvi said the initiative connects Jewish and Druze teenagers from 10 branches nationwide. Ziv Neurim CEO Eyal Rolnitsky said the sea teaches perseverance, responsibility, dealing with uncertainty, and trust in others. He added that it was moving to see teenagers choosing to take responsibility for their own future and for Israeli society.