Beit Hashirion, Tel Aviv. Photo: IDF Spokesperson

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The largest soldiers’ hostel in Israel will be built in Beit Hashirion in Tel Aviv, as a part of a project initiated by Friends of the IDF (FIDF).  FIDF has pledged to focus on the improvement and expansion of soldiers’ hostels in 2009.  The major goal of the project is to increase the bedding capacity in the center of Israel where the largest number of soldiers are in need of hostel services provided by the FIDF.  Most of these soldiers are lone soldiers and soldiers serving on open bases located far away from their homes.

Beit Hashirion, which currently provides 178 beds, went through a major renovation in 2008, costing six million NIS.  The renovations included, among other things, the installation of a shower in each room (with four to five beds in each room), the creation of a center complete with 21 computers with internet access, and the construction of a new common room.  “Beit Hashirion is our first step, and all of the other soldiers’ hostels will be brought up to this standard,” says Ori Saar, Assistant Manager of the FIDF Design and Construction Department

In 2010, the construction will begin and the hostel at Beit Hashirion will be able to accommodate 250 soldiers at one time.  The extension, which is expected to be completed second half of 2011, will make Beit Hashirion the largest soldiers’ hostel in Israel.  The building will also be accessible to those with wheelchairs and will feature a projection room with a cinema screen.  The cost of the construction is 15 million NIS and will be paid for by donations to FIDF.

FIDF also plans to triple the amount of beds available in its soldiers’ hostels in the center of Israel between now and 2011.  To do so, the organization will focus on a number of big projects, such as building a soldiers’ hostel for lone soldiers in Ramat Gan, significantly expanding the soldiers’ hostel in Jerusalem, and building an additional soldiers’ hostel with 100 rooms in another city in the center of Israel, which has yet to be determined.

Most of the soldiers staying in the soldiers’ hostels throughout the country are permanent residents, some of whom are even living in the hostels throughout their entire military service. “At my place, there is no such thing as a full house, even when someone needs a place to stay at three in the morning, I will always find something,” explains Tsion Ben-Shushan, the manager of the hostel.  Beit Hashirion, like the other soldiers’ hostels, provides the soldiers with food, laundry services, and beds, but their help is not limited to material needs. “We are like a family. From the moment a soldier arrives, he’s a son of the house and we take care of everything he asks for, like at home,” says Ben-Shushan.