IDF veterans have launched a new initiative to support Jewish agricultural outposts across the country while memorializing soldiers killed in the war.
The project, called Carts of Strength, was founded by former IDF special forces soldiers and aims to provide dozens of farms with mobile trailer carts stocked with farming and construction tools. Organizers say the effort is intended to counter Palestinian Authority-backed farming initiatives, which they describe as part of a broader struggle over land use in the region.
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A man attaches a trailer carrying farming and construction equipment to a vehicle as part of the new Carts of Strength initiative, launched by Israeli military veterans to support agricultural outposts and honor fallen soldiers
(Photo: Courtesy)
Since the Palestinian Authority introduced the so-called Fayyad Plan more than a decade ago, it has encouraged the establishment of Palestinian farms as a means of consolidating territorial claims. Israeli organizers say agricultural outposts on state-owned land have gained momentum in recent years, reversing that trend. Palestinian farms, meanwhile, have received substantial financial and logistical support from the Palestinian Authority.
Under the new project, about 40 carts are scheduled to be purchased and delivered to agricultural outposts in the Negev, the Galilee and Judea and Samaria. Each cart, valued at tens of thousands of shekels, will include a range of equipment such as hoes, mattocks, spades, rakes, welding machines, drills, electric saws and protective gear.
In addition to their practical use, each cart will serve as a mobile memorial. The initiative is being carried out in partnership with 40 bereaved families whose sons were killed in the war. Each cart will be dedicated to one fallen soldier, featuring his photo and excerpts from his writings. Organizers said the memorials are meant to strengthen the connection between agricultural development and national remembrance.
Volunteers using the carts will be able to expand farmland, plant crops, build observation points and rest areas and develop spaces of commemoration at the outposts.
“Since the beginning of the war, each of us sadly knows quite a few friends who have fallen, and we wondered how best to commemorate them,” says Yonatan Ben Shushan, one of the project’s initiators. “We chose this project that will enable agricultural farms to grow and expand, because we believe that there is no more fitting memorial than a deep connection to the land for which they gave their lives.”
Shachar Yahalom, widow of Staff Sergeant Yehuda Yahalom, a Golani Brigade reconnaissance fighter killed in battle in Lebanon, said: “It’s deeply moving for us to be part of this special project. Yehuda had a strong connection to farming, and I hope this project will help farms grow, develop and carry on his legacy.”
“These carts are a real force multiplier for us, and we’re eagerly awaiting their arrival,” said Michael Yachin, a partner in establishing a farm in Binyamin. “I have no doubt that seeing the photos and quotes of the fallen on the carts will give us all a great deal of motivation and spirit as we work.”
“When they first approached me about commemorating Roey through this project, they were nervous, unsure how I would take it,” shares Orit Zuk, mother of the late Major Roey Chapell, commander of the Orev Company in the Nahal Reconnaissance Battalion, who fell in a heroic battle on October 7.
“After all, we’re a family from the center of the country with no connection to farming and land-building. But to me, it’s actually very moving, not only because it strengthens the bond with the land that Roey so loved and fell for, but also because it builds a bridge between different people and creates special connections, which is just like the way Roey was.”
