Yuli Malachi – Ra’anana Garin Tzabar Village 2017

“I can honestly say that Garin Tzabar was the best option for me in order to make my army process much quicker and help me get the job that I wanted.”

Hi I’m Yuli, I was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain.
I grew up in a Jewish home with a British mother and an Israeli father. Ever since I was a baby I had been coming to Israel at least twice a year to visit my family in the north. I have always felt very connected to Israel and always felt proud of being Jewish and Israeli. My parents made sure we were in touch with our Jewish roots despite having gone to Spanish-Catalan schools our whole lives where there weren’t any Jews, and I’m so grateful for having been brought up like that.

Ever since I was 14 years old I dreamt of making Aliyah and serving in the IDF, my dream finally came true when I made Aliyah in June of 2017. The main reason for me making this huge decision was that all of my dad’s side of the family served in the army, mainly in the paratroopers brigade. Another reason is that my brother, Dan, at that time was already in the process of coming to Israel and joining the army and eventually served at the “Kfir” combat brigade. I definitely had the strongest feeling that that is what I should and also wanted to do.
I have my family and my big brother to thank for me making this big decision. My younger brother and sister, Ben and Ali who are twins, have just turned 18, drafted to the army together in December of 2018, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.

In order to make all of this possible and easier for me, I joined the Garin Tzabar program in early 2017. I passed all four seminars which took place in Luton, England. I met so many amazing people along the way and made friends that I know are going to last me a lifetime. I can honestly say that Garin tzabar was the best option for me in order to make my army process much quicker and help me get the job that I wanted. We started off with the absorption period which lasts up to three months before everyone drafts, me and the rest of my Garin who are all amazing people did Ulpan together plus trips around Israel and activities that prepared us for what was to come.

I’d be lying if I said this was easy. This wasn’t easy for me to leave my family and friends behind but I know it’s what is best for me and I feel so much happier living in this beautiful country with such amazing people surrounding me day by day.

My army service has been so amazing, since I serve as an instructor in such an amazing unit called Sar-El, inside the logistics corps. For those who don’t know what this job is; it consists in bringing volunteers from all lover the world, Jews and non-Jews, from the ages of 16 to 100 to come and work in different army bases allover israel for a period of 1 to 3 weeks. In each group there’s at least two Sar-El instructors, these instructors are in charge of the volunteers 24\7 and also teach the volunteers about israel and the army. These volunteers work in the logistics part of each base that we are sent to, like paratroopers base, airforce bases, and more. They are so important to us and the state of Israel.

I know I’m exactly where I want to be and I wouldn’t change the last two years for the world.