Tag: dror-israel

Hope

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

As I wrote in my last post, I have struggled to write of late. I had a long conversation with a friend and mentor last week where the topic came up. He talked about how hard it was for him to read much of what I was writing because there was so much pain and suffering being highlighted. He was appreciative that I pointed it out and that I was sharing what was happening but also wished there was more hope.

I realized that is what has blocked me from writing. There are so many challenges in the world today and the need to fight against these challenges is so great, that I had been consumed by them. The time I have taken away from writing has enabled me to refocus. While I will continue to fight against the Jew hatred that is growing, while I will continue to call out and fight against the lies being told about Jews and Israel, while I will continue to fight against the many problems coming from both the American political left and right, I will also dive deeper into the things I get to see, do and participate with that give me hope. Without hope, we are lost. There are plenty of things that give me hope so I am going to begin highlighting some of what I see that inspires me and gives me hope for a better future.

I have the privilege of working with Dror Israel, an Israeli organization that focuses on education, leadership, and community building. I have been able to visit their programs in both 2024 and 2025. I want to share two stories that truly inspire me about a better future.

In 2024, we went to visit Kibbutz Eshbal in the Galillee, a Dror Israel community. At Kibbutz Eshbal, they have a boarding school for at-risk youth. Part of the program there is a therapeutic stable where they learn how to take care of and ride horses. The program teaches these at-risk children responsibility. If they don’t feed the horses, they don’t eat. If they don’t clean the stables, the horses are living in filth. If they don’t exercise the horses, they don’t get what they need. Suffice it to say that the stables are clean, the horses both fed and exercised.

While visitng the stables in September of 2024, we met a young girl who was in the boarding school and participating with the program at the stables. We walked over to talk with her and noticed how she looked a little rough. She told us that she was in 11th grade and had just started at the boarding school a few months ago. That explained why she looked a little rough. We asked her what she thought of the boarding school, Kibbutz Eshbal, and Dror Israel. I’ll never forget her reply.

She told us that this place saved her life. She told us before she came here she was spending nights out on the streets, “doing bad things.” It was pretty clear what she meant by “bad things.” The gratitude in her voice, her body language, and her eyes is something I will never forget. While she looked rough on the outside, she was cleaning up and warming up on the inside.

In October of 2025, I was back at Kibbutz Eshbal, seeing different parts of the work of Dror Israel. We, of course, returned to the stables. The stables represent so much about healing. About responsibility. About growing up. About giving children something that is not only theirs but is their responsibility. As we were walking around the stables and talking with the head of the program, I looking over to my right where a young girl waved at me. I turned to my colleagues and said, very softly, “I think that’s the girl we met last year.” Why did I ‘think’ it? Because she looked so different. She was not rough but very put together. There was a calmness about her. A peace. Where the year before I saw a troubled girl trying and hoping to put a life together for herself, the girl standing to my right had put a life together. She had found herself. I walked over and said, “I think we met you here last year.” She smiled and said, “Yes. We did. That’s why I waved to you.” I was blown away. While it was the same girl, it wasn’t the same girl. The transformation in just a year was so unbelievable. We talked about what she was doing, her goals when she graduated high school in the summer of 2026. How much her life had changed. All because of the people and programs of Dror Israel. All because people cared about a random child who needed help. To this day, it warms my heart, puts a smile on my face, and inspires me to make a difference. I never got her name. I didn’t take pictures either time I met her. Both are things I regret. I’d like to be able to follow her journey so I’m trying to find out who she is.

The second story that inspires me comes from my visits to Dror Israel programs in 2024 and 2025 as well. Dror’s affiliated youth movement, HaNaor HaOved VeHaLomed (NOAL), is 102 years old. It’s a Labor Zionist Youth Movement that is in every Druze Village and 58 Arab villages with more than 20,000 Arab children involved in an Israel Zionist Youth Movement. Let that sink in. More than 20,000 Arab children are choosing to be a part of an Israeli, Zionist, Youth Movement.

In 2024 we had the opportunity to visit the youth movement in the Arab Village of Ein Mahel. The Mayor of the village came to talk to us because the youth movement was so important to him that he put his own daughters in it. Think about that deeply. The Mayor of an Arab village thought that an Israeli, Zionist youth movement was so important that he made sure his own daughters participated. We met with leaders of the movement in the village who shared their stories of the impact of this Israeli, Zionist youth movement on their own lives. And then we got to meet some of the kids. They didn’t speak English. I don’t speak Arabic. Yet we connected. We smiled. We laughed. It was wonderful and beautiful.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024

One of the leaders we met is a man named Shadi. Shadi is in his mid 30s and grew up with the movement. He shared his October 7th story with us. The world doesn’t hear Israeli Arabs’ October 7th story. The impact it had on him. He was out of the village, taking his son for a haircut. When he heard what happened and was happening, he raced home, to the safety of his village. Why? Because he didn’t know who was going to try to kill him. Would it be the terrorists because he is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement and has Jewish friends? Would it be Jews because they thought he was a terrorist? Would it be Arabs because they thought he was a terrorist? He asked us who did we think were the ones who checked on him? Who was it that cared enough to make sure that he was ok? It was his Jewish friends from the youth movement. That’s what shared society looks look. Real friendships. Real connections. Real caring.

With the leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024. Shadi is in the blue shirt two people from my left.

A year later, in October 2025, I was with Dror Israel in a different Arab village. This time is was the Arab village of Jisr Al Zarqa. This is one of the poorest Arab villages yet amazingly, is the only one that actually is on the Mediterranean Sea. Beachfront access for one of the poorest Arab villages. We heard about the impact that Dror Israel and NOAL have with the children of this village. How the program they partner with, Surfing for Peace, is actually keeping these children in school. Keeping them out of trouble. Teaching them responsibility. Shadi joined us in the village and as he drove us from the village to our next meeting, we began to have a fascinating conversation. He began sharing with us the challenges he faces being an Arab, Israeli, and Zionist.

First, the world doesn’t think an Arab can be a Zionist. Especially an Israeli Arab because how could an Arab living in Israel believe in Jewish self-determination? In a Jewish state? The media shows us a narrative to generate clicks and views, not to share facts. Secondly, the current Israeli government is problematic for Israeli Arabs. That doesn’t make Israel unique, as the United States has similar issues with our government and different groups. England, France, Spain and Canada have issues with antisemitism and a lack of protection from the government. The conversation with Shadi was long and deep and not long enough. We got to the next meeting and stayed in the car to continue the conversation. It was hard to stop and go to the next meeting. It was the type of conversation that doesn’t happen enough in today’s world. Near the end, Shadi invited me to come back in a few months to join him for the Arab teen leaders retreat. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend in early 2026 but it is now on my bucket list. Think about that – a Jewish guy in America has on his bucket list to go to an Arab teen leadership retreat that is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement. I think that could break the internet. People might think it is A.I. It so defies the narrative being pushed.

When I think that things are dark and the future is bleak, these are two things that I can look at that show there is hope. They show that there is a real chance for a brighter future. Instead of listening to the talking heads, those who are filled with hate to get those clicks and views, I choose to look at what’s really happening. The people I have met and that I know who are changing the world. Our future does not have to be bleak, depressing, or dark. Dror Israel reminds me that if we choose to take action ourselves, if we become the change we want to see, the world can be bright.

I hope that I get to see that girl at Kibbutz Eshbal before she graduates. I look forward to my next visit with Shadi and continuing and expanding our conversation. I can’t wait to go to another Arab village and interact with the Arab children who are choosing to partcipate in an Israeli Zionist youth movement and visit my first Druze village where the Druze children are doing the same.

Hope is alive. It’s up to each of us to grab it and expand it.

Bring the Jew haters to Israel – it’s the only solution

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

I love the State of Israel and am preparing to go on my 25th trip there in just a few days. I have four (4) tentative trips scheduled for 2026. It’s a part of who I am. It’s in my DNA. If I had a nickel for every tim I have been asked if I live in Israel or plan to live in Israel, I could retire (and maybe in Israel!)

I fell in love with Israel as a child. My Great Grandma Rose was a Zionist. All four of my grandparents were Zionists and they all visited Israel when I was a child. I grew up listening to stories about how my grandparents listened to the UN vote on the partition plan on their transistor radio and how they celebrated when they knew it was going to pass and there would finally be a Jewish State and homeland after close to 2,000 years without one. My parents were Zionists. As a child, I learned how important Israel is to Judaism and it became integral to my Jewish identity.

I didn’t go to Israel until after I graduated college. My second trip was a decade later. In the last 25 years, I have now gone 23 times. Being in Israel is healing to my soul – it is the type of thing you can’t explain to somebody until they have been to Israel and once they have been to Israel, you don’t need to explain it.

It is why I find myself baffled at those who hate the State of Israel yet have never been there. They haven’t seen it first hand, yet they choose to speak as if they are experts. They haven’t met with people who live there – Jews, Arabs, Druze, Christians, and Bedouins – yet they speak for them. It is clear we have a major problem and an opportunity for a solution.

When challenged by the younger generation losing their connection to Judaism, leaders in the Jewish community banded together and created Taglit: Birthright Israel. Their belief was that bringing these young adults, ages 18-26, to Israel as a gift, as their version of the biblical birthright from last week’s Torah portion, would change their connection to Judaism and maybe to Israel as well. 800,000 participants later, the data shows this has been effective.

What can we learn from this? In today’s world, where many of the youth no longer have any connection to Israel and won’t participate on birthright trip and where so many Jews and people of other faiths only believe the lies they see in the media, getting people to Israel is more important than ever. Not just getting them to Israel. Having staffed more than 10 Taglit trips, I know what they see. I know who they speak to. That’s great for the audience they are targeting. For this group, we need to show them a different version of Israel. The version of Israel that is struggling with the government, that the war has impacted heavily, that is not just Jewish. There was a great opinion piece in e-Jewish Philanthropy on November 13, 2025, titled How to support Israel and still have your grandchildren speak to you. The author argues that we need to show these people the Israel that speaks to them. I agree wholeheartedly.

It is why in November 2019 I participated in the Encounter Immersive program during which I spent four days meeting with leaders of Palestinian civil society. I was public about my decision to participate and wrote in great detail in this blog about my experience. You can read those posts beginning here. While on this trip, I met with many different people who had many differerent viewpoints. Some reinforced every stereotype I had. Others gave me inspiration and hope. I slept in Ramallah, ate dinner at the home of a Palestinian Christian and explored Bethlehem, was hosted for dinner by the Arab daughter of the family that has had the keys to the church of the Holy Sepulchre since the 1100s, and had lunch with a member of Hamas and a member of the Al Aqsa Brigade. I have followed up and kept in touch with many of those who inspired me and never forgotten those filled with hate. I want other people to meet those who inspired me, to talk with them, to listen to them, and to understand both the challenges and the opportunities that they share.

Osama, one of those who inspired me
Sam Bahour, who’s brilliance and dedication to fighting against Israel was frightening
The streets of Ramallah
Ramallah
The Bank of Palestine in Ramallah

The more time I spend in Israel, the more people I meet who inspire me with the work they do to build the type of country and society that is inclusive of all. A country that values human rights and embraces differences. You won’t see this on the news or read it in the New York Times, but it happens every single day in Israel. For example, Dror Israel and their affiliated youth movement, HaNaor HaOved (NOAL), works in every Druze village in Israel and in 58 Arab villages with over 20,000 arab children, teaching them leadership and friendship in efforts to build a shared society between all those who live in Israel. I had the opportunity to visit two of the Arab villages, meet with the children and the leaders of the Arab branches of NOAL, and was incredibly inspired by their work.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024
With the leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024
On the beach of Jizr Al Zarqa with Arab leaders
The Village of Jizr Al Zarqa

It is amazing to see the work that they do each and every day. When the mayor of the Arab village showed up to talk to us about the youth movement, sharing that he enrolled his own daughters in the movement, preaching to us how important it was to future of his village, we were amazed. As I listened to my friend Shadi tell us about the challenges he faces being Arab, Israeli, and a Zionist and how the current situation challenges his own personal identity, I was captivated. Ever since he invited me to join him in January for a leadership retreat with the Arab branches, I have been trying to figure out how to get back to Israel in January to be there to both support him and experience it myself. To watch the Arab village leadership working with the youth leaders in the Arab villages and document what I experienced to share. When I met Hamami, the only women in the fisherman’s guild in the Arab village of Jzir Al Zarqa, who created a program called Surfing for Peace as a way to intervene with village youth who were skipping school and getting in trouble, I knew I was with a force of nature. As she told us why she partners with Dror Israel and NOAL, because they only care about helping the kids, it was inspiring to see Arabs and Jews working together for a beter future for all. These are the things you can only experience in person, in Israel, to understand the beauty of this country.

Video about the Arab branches of NOAL

In Jerusalem, home to the Kotel (Western Wall of the Temple), Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque, and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, there is another treasure that far too many people don’t know about and that the media will never cover. 100 year old Hapoel Jerusaelem Football Club (Hapoel) is not only a professional men’s and women’s soccer team playing at the highest levels, it’s also a nonprofit that is owned by its fan club. Their most famous leader of the fan club was Hersh Goldberg-Polin (z’l), murdered by Hamas after being taken as a hostage on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival. Hersh loved Hapoel because of their social programs, designed to improve Jerusalem for everybody. Imagine if the news covered their neighborhoods league, where Jews and Arabs (from East Jerusalem) practiced and played soccer against each other each week. Now imagine that they did it without referees. What would the world say? Bring the Jew haters to watch Jewish and Arab children practice and play soccer together, befriending each other, and competing without referees. They wouldn’t know what to do. They’d be lost. It’s why we need to bring them to Israel to see with their own eyes. They need to see the homeless women soccer program, the girls league, Spectrum soccer, the Unified Teams, where neurotypical members of the fan club play on the same team as those who are neurodiverse against a similarly composed team, all including Jews and Arabs. These are the things you have to see in person to believe. These are the things that the media won’t cover. The narrative breaks when you watch Jews and Arabs living together, playing together, and striving for a better future together.

Watch and learn more about Hapoel Jerusalem Football Club and their social programs.

So it is time. Time to bring the Jew and Israel haters to see for themselves what they rail against. Let them cry apartheid as they watch an inclusive society. Let them talk with Arab members of the Knesset, Arab leaders of civil society, Arab and Jewish children who play together and build a new community together. Let them watch Arab, Jewish, and Druze children learn leadership skills together. Let them see the truth that the media won’t cover and expose the lies they breathe in the light of the truth. Hasbara has not worked. It’s time to show them the real Israel, warts and all. A country founded on the belief that all inhabitants should be able to live there in peace, not one that wants one. Let them follow the experience and the lead of Kasim Hafeez, a British citizen of Pakistani Muslim heritage who grew up embracing a radical Islamist ideology, becaming active in the anti-Israel movement. He wanted to see the horrors of Israel first hand and in 2007 went to confirm all his beliefs about the evil of Israel. Instead, he experienced the true nature of the Jewish state, changing his perception of Israel to where he now is a Zionist. We can create more Kasim’s by letting them see Israel first hand. The time in now. We cannot afford to wait.

Hanging with Kasim, two Zionists, one who is a self-admitted former Jihadist and anti-semite.

We need to understand that the media isn’t going to be our friend, our ally, or our advocate. They will continue to tell lies. The only way to combat those lies is to make sure that those who criticize Israel based on the lies come to see the lies themselves – and thus discover the truth. Israel isn’t perfect, but what country is? It is a country striving to be better. It is a people who despite their leadership issues (we all have them), are fighting to build a country for every resident.

If we don’t figure out how to get them to Israel to see, feel, touch and taste the truth, I’m afraid we have lost. And I won’t lose. Let’s all do our part to help the critics without any facts experience the truth themselves. Get them to Israel.