Demobilized soldiers receive a 10-day all expenses paid vacation, an intensive immersive experiential group trip.

Do you remember your first trip to Israel? I remember mine, so many years ago, in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur war. I encountered the country that I had dreamed about. As I travelled Israel for the first time, my feet connected to my heart which had been taught by 2000 years of wandering (and my parents) to yearn for Jerusalem and a return to Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel.

And yet, despite the connection that I expected would be clearly understood here in Israel, I have been constantly asked by native born Israelis: "Why did you leave Canada to live here?" I realized that despite the fact that they walk and hike the hills, plains and valleys of Israel obsessively ("Nearly half-a-million people crowd the country's parks and reserves (Times of Israel, April 8, 2012), the hearts of too many native-born Israelis remain disengaged from the land which their feet explore.

Eretz Nehederet was founded in 2006 to re-engage the hearts of Israelis with our land and with the Zionist dream. Since its founding, more than 100,000 Israelis have taken part in our subsidized guided day-trips to all parts of Israel, including places to which many had never been. During the heaviest missile bombardments in the south, we brought busloads of Israelis every Friday from the center of the country to Sderot and its environs to show solidarity for our beleaguered people by literally standing with them, even if only for a few hours, and doing some of our Shabbat shopping there to help the shopkeepers hurting from the fall of business - at least a little.

In 2010, Eretz Nehederet took a giant leap: we augmented the day-trips by creating the program Matnat Shichrur (literally IDF demobilization gift), modeled on the Birthright Israel concept, to take IDF soldiers who have successfully completed  their compulsory military service,on a 10-day encounter with Israel, expressing a heartfelt "thank you" and making them a gift of their heritage. For 10 days we show them the magic of Israel and introduce them to the physical and human beauty of our country, exposing them to the incredible mosaic that is Israel.

In the pilot stages of the program we accept combat/combat support soldiers a year or less post-demobilization to participate in the trip. We give them a fantastic time: biking along the Jordan River, Omega/Zipline over the Patriarch's road - the second largest Omega in the world (and we have it!), jeeps in the hills of Jerusalem. They visit sites of original Zionist reclamation and meet with modern practical Zionists to discuss the meaning of Zionism 64 years after the establishment of the modern State of Israel. They examine current vexed issues of leadership through Biblical paradigms while visiting the relevant Biblical sites, by taking these current issues into the Biblical context. They find themselves not only engaged in a conversation around the issues, with the charged atmosphere diffused, but also come to an understanding that the Bible remains our relevant heritage.

It is incredible how amazed the first group of Matnat Shichrur participants (October 23 - November 1 2011) were by this concept. One very bright young participant from Tel Aviv, First Sergeant (res.) Adi M., from a Special Ops IDF unit exclaimed, astounded: "It really was us who were here 2,000 years ago - we really are the same people." How sad that he was just realizing it then, even having been raised and educated in Israel, and how thrilling it was for us to have made the difference.

Throughout the program we hold leadership workshops with the idea of leveraging the seeds of leadership planted throughout their IDF service to engagement in Israel, at any level. A wonderful young woman participant, Sergeant (res.) Atara D. from Be'er Sheva said in the final wrap-up session: "I [now] don't feel that I have done enough for the country, apart from my army service. It is possible to get up and to participate and to give more, to contribute more."

At Eretz Nehederet we believe that for Israel to have a future that we can look forward to, as a country "…whose reality exceed[s] our dreams" (President Shimon Peres in his speech at the State ceremony at Yad Vashem, Yom HaShoa 2012), we need to raise up a new generation of Israelis who are reminded of why we are here of all places. (The weather is certainly not it, as far as I am concerned!)

If the protests of last summer taught us anything, it is that the 'amcha' or middle class of Israel, the people who, en masse, carry Israel on their shoulders through their taxes, their IDF and reserve service and by sheer virtue of numbers, cannot be taken for granted. During the interview process for the trip, one young Special Ops First Sergeant (res.) Itamar S. asked whether a friend from his unit could also sign up for the gift trip. I replied that it was by invitation only. "Oh no," he exclaimed "my friend did get an invitation, but he told me that I was a gullible idiot for wasting time coming to the interview. He said to me, "you are going to get to the interview and find out that it is not subsidized at all. Really, who is going to give us something without a catch?”  ”You have to understand," First Sergeant Itamar continued "we are continually asked to give and give and give - it is beyond our experience to believe that anyone would want to give us something".

The 31 participants in the first pilot program last fall signed up for the trip, attracted by a 10-day all expenses paid vacation, meeting peers and a good time: they said as much. At the end of the 10-day intensive, immersive, experiential group trip, they had indeed experienced a wonderful time, but in the final discussion, no one mentioned that. They only talked with great exuberance of how they had come to see what Israel means to them. "This trip has connected me to my Israeli side, to my Zionism" said First Sergeant (res.) Dovi L.

What return will we get on our social investment in these young people, who have already given so much to Israel? The return that we hope for is that they will lose their cynicism regarding Zionism. We hope that from them will emerge a cadre of citizens and leaders whose lives and activism will reflect our roots and values. And we hope that they will understand that Israel is their legacy, and that, connected with their hearts to this country that we love, they are enhancing Israel's national resilience.

Linda Olmert is the Executive Director of Eretz Nehederet - linda@eretzn.org,  www.eretzn.org