Sunday, a ceremony took place at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem celebrating the milestone of 6,000 soldiers who have been converted through the Nativ program, a partnership between The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Government of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces. The 6,000 soldiers completed the Nativ educational course over the last eleven years and then chose to convert.

Speaking to the Nativ participants in attendance, JAFI’s Natan Sharansky said, “You chose to be Israelis. You chose to be soldiers in the IDF. But for you that was not enough. You also decided to connect to the Jewish tradition, and not just to the seven million Israelis, but also to the 14 million Jews around the world. It is the combination of our Israeli and Jewish identities that gives us the strength to keep fighting our enemies. Every time I meet soldiers in Nativ, I know that the Jewish people have been strengthened.”