Yad Labanim

Yad Labanim

יד לבנים
Logo of Yad Labanim
Formation	1949
Founder	Dr. Miriam Shapira
Type	Volunteer organization
Headquarters	Bnei Brak, Israel
Region served	Israel
Official language	Hebrew
Website	yadlabanim.org/en/

Yad Labanim is an Israeli volunteer organization to commemorate soldiers who died in Israel's conflicts and care for their bereaved families. The organization is run by bereaved family members and represents bereaved parents and siblings, and in recent years also includes grandparents. It is recognized as the representative organization of Israel's bereaved families. The organization was established in 1949, and was registered as an association in 1982.

History

Yad Labanim was founded shortly after the 1948 Palestine War as a result of a letter sent to the newspapers in December 1948 by Dr. Miriam Shapira, a mother who lost her son in the war. In the letter, sent with the support of other mothers and bearing the name "Yad Labanim", she called on the bereaved mothers to unite in founding a foundation for the establishment of an institution as a memorial to their sons who had died in war and an orphanage for war orphans. Its purpose was also to give encouragement and support to the bereaved mothers.

The organization includes bereaved parents, brothers and sisters, Jews, Arabs, Druze, Bedouins and Circassians. In the past it also included widows and orphans of the IDF, but in 1991 they established a separate organization for themselves, called the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, after they claimed that Yad Labanim had not given them adequate representation.

In 1957, Beit Yad Labanim in Petach Tikva (with a mention of its creator Baruch Oren) won the Israel Prize for its special contribution to society and the country in commemorative enterprises.

In 2006, the bereaved families were asked to assist in the financing of part of the organization's activities by paying regular membership fees, a process that upset a number of the bereaved families.

Following the October 7 attacks and during the Gaza war, thousands of bereaved family members joined the organization. According to then-chairman Eli Ben-Shem, by April 2025, about 2,100 bereaved parents and 2,800 bereaved siblings had joined the organization. The organization adapted its activities for young siblings and teenagers. Research conducted by the organization found that about one in three bereaved family members from the war had not returned to work.

In July 2025, Eli Tahar was elected chairman, succeeding Ben-Shem, who had held the position since 1999 and became the organization's president. Tahar lost his brother and later two of his sons, the second of whom was killed on October 7, 2023. Moshik Aviv has served as CEO since 2024.

In 2026, the organization announced the opening of its first chapter in North America, Yad LaBanim USA, led by David Lubin, whose daughter was killed in a terror attack.

Activities

Yad Labanim's headquarters are in Bnei Brak. As of 2026, the organization operates 65 branches organized into 11 districts. The branches and districts are headed by bereaved parents and siblings who serve as volunteers, alongside professional staff led by the CEO. According to the chairman, the organization has about 1,200 volunteers. Various educational and cultural activities are held at the centres to commemorate the dead, including outreach activities among school students. In every Yad Labanim centre there is a memorial room with a commemorative plaque, on which are engraved the names of the dead of that settlement and pages telling their life story. In general, Yad Labanim centres also hold general cultural activities, which are not related to the IDF dead. For example, in Ramat Hasharon, Yad Labanim houses the municipal library, and in Herzliya the city museum is in the Yad Labanim house.

Yad Labanim representatives represent bereaved families in front of the Ministry of Defense and the welfare authorities, serve as representatives in the Public Council for the Commemoration of the Soldier, and are engaged in reviewing regulations and procedures for the sake of the families. The organization also carries out cultural and welfare activities among the bereaved families, including trips, study days and vacations. The publication "Siakh Shcholim" (Discussion of the Grieving) is published on its behalf for Remembrance Day, which is distributed to the families of the bereaved.

The organization is involved in the planning and construction of the National Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl.

Online commemoration projects

Gal-Hed, led by the organization together with the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the Yedioth Ahronoth Group, is a series of films about members of Israel's security forces killed since October 7, 2023.

Derishat Shalom (Hebrew for "regards"), a joint project with Hilma (High-Tech for Society), is a website presenting memorial stickers bearing sayings of fallen soldiers.

Zikaron MiBayit ("Memory from Home"), launched in 2026 by the organization together with the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization, the Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces, holds online meetings in which bereaved families talk about their loved ones.

Gallery

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  Yad Labanim House in Daliyat al-Karmel for the Druze who have died
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  Yad Labanim House in Ashdod
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  Yad Labanim House, with city library, in Hod HaSharon
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  Yad Labanim House in Haifa