Yad Labanim

Yad Labanim is an Israeli volunteer organization to commemorate soldiers who died in Israel's conflicts and care for their 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 Organization of Widows and Orphans of the IDF, 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.

Activities
Yad Labanim's headquarters are in Tel Aviv, and the organization operates 70 centres and branches in many major Israeli cities. 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 Defence 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.