The story behind the establishment of the association:

The idea for the establishment of the association was born from the personal moving story of our Chairman and Co-founder Izhar David.  

It is a story about courage, mental resilience, endless giving, and most importantly, about a huge personal sacrifice.

Izhar began his military service as a soldier and commander of the Golani Crow Squadron. At the end of his service, he chose to enlist in the Israel Security Agency and began an impressive career there. In light of his performance and achievements, he climbed the career ladder.

Izhar invested his life and all his energy in the field coordination unit in Samaria in the most shaky and turbulent periods that our country has known in terms of mass terrorist attacks, during the 1st and 2nd Intifada. During these shaky periods, in which we all lived under the threats of daily attacks, with anxiety and panic around us, Izhar was responsible for thwarting dozens of attacks and rescuing hundreds of civilians.

However, there was a heavy price to pay for the job he took on. The moral dilemmas he faced, the shaky sights he was exposed to at the scene of the attacks – all of these began to slowly crush his soul.

Over the years, Izhar developed the bleeding and crushing wound known as PTSD. This bleeding wound has its own rules. The cruel wound continued to grow from within and slowly, it became a ticking time bomb. This continued for nine long years. And Izhar didn’t tell anyone about it. He continued to fulfill his role, requiring him to be at the peak of concentration and the peak of sharpness without taking his eyes off the target, while the wound kicked in with all its might without him having anywhere to run to. Izhar continued his role with dedication and piety as he saw before his eyes only one goal: To continue saving the lives of civilians.

In his fascinating book, “Ticking Bomb”, Izhar describes the worst moment of his life, the moment when he stands on the edge of the cliff and is about to make the worst move of all. But he stops at the last minute. He decides to choose life. He decides that he is going to take care of himself and get recognition at the Rehabilitation Division.

During these moments he promised himself that he would set up an association to locate all those 40,000 veterans of the IDF and security forces who had suffered from PTSD (who, until recently, he was similar to) and assist them in the recognition process so that they could live fulfilling lives.

Izhar is the first PTSD veteran to receive the Rehabilitation Masterpiece Medal. Beyond being the association’s chairman and co-founder, Izhar is a social entrepreneur, founder and first CEO of the College for Joint Israeli Leadership. He is an educator, and lectures on PTSD throughout the country.