{"id":108554,"date":"2023-12-14T18:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T16:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=108554"},"modified":"2023-12-13T12:52:02","modified_gmt":"2023-12-13T10:52:02","slug":"20-00-91","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=108554","title":{"rendered":"New Initiative \u2018Operation Hug\u2019 Reunites Parents Abroad With Lone IDF Soldiers in Israel-Hamas War"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>New Initiative \u2018Operation Hug\u2019 Reunites Parents Abroad With Lone IDF Soldiers in Israel-Hamas War<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Stacie Stufflebeam reunites with her lone soldier sons thanks to Operation Hug. Photo: Provided<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

A new initiative launched by a group of Jewish organizations provides hundreds of free round-trip airline tickets to Israel from around the world for one parent of any lone soldier who is currently serving in a combat unit in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the war between the Jewish state and Hamas terrorists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh, Jewish National Fund-USA, and Friends of the IDF (FIDF) have joined forces to launch \u201cOperation Hug,\u201d with flights being provided by Israel\u2019s national airline El Al.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lone soldier is a soldier in the IDF who has no family in Israel either because he is a new immigrant to the country who made aliyah,<\/em> a volunteer from abroad, an orphan, or an individual with no ties to his family. According to the Lone Soldier Center in Israel, there are over 7,000 lone soldiers currently serving in the IDF. \u201cOperation Hug\u201d allows concerned parents of these lone soldiers to be in Israel and support their children during the current campaign against Hamas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of \u201cOperation Hug,\u201d Stacie Stufflebeam, from Richmond, Virginia, was able to have a surprise reunion with her sons Evan, 24, and Adam, 29, who are reserve soldiers in the Nachal and Sayeret Golani brigades, respectively.  Her third son, 27-year-old Yered, who also served in Nachal, is on standby if needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another parent who took part in the initiative, named Michelle, said, \u201cIt\u2019s almost my lone soldier\u2019s 21st birthday, and there would be nothing more special for me to know that I am in the same country as him and have the possibility to give him a huge hug as well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLone soldiers have left behind their friends, family, and support systems to serve their Jewish Homeland. Now it\u2019s our turn to serve them and offer whatever measure of comfort we can,\u201d said Russell Robinson, CEO of Jewish National Fund-USA.\u201dNot only will this initiative strengthen their spirits, but it will also strengthen our worldwide Jewish family in coming together to make a difference. There is nothing like a parent\u2019s hug in these terrifying times, and we are proud to partner with two other incredible organizations to make this possible for Israel\u2019s lone soldiers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FIDF CEO Steve Weil praised Israel\u2019s lone soldiers, saying, \u201cTheir valor and selflessness inspire us, and we are honored to facilitate reunions with their deserving parents. Their service and dedication exemplify the highest ideals of commitment and courage.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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New Initiative \u2018Operation Hug\u2019 Reunites Parents Abroad With Lone IDF Soldiers in Israel-Hamas War Shiryn Ghermezian Stacie Stufflebeam reunites with her lone soldier sons thanks to Operation Hug. Photo: Provided A new initiative launched by a group of Jewish organizations provides hundreds of free round-trip airline tickets to Israel from around the world for one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108554"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108731,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108554\/revisions\/108731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}