The Annual Beit Halochem Golf Day 2018, raised £15,000.

It took place on 24 May 2018 at Hartsbourne Golf & Country Club to raise funds our four Rehabilitation Centres.

Two special Beit Halochem veterans attended the event and spoke movingly during the buffet lunch.

Yoram Kuchel was a reservist with the Israeli Air Force. In 1974, Yoram was sent out on a combat mission to rescue the crew of a combat fighter plane which had undergone an emergency landing. Yoram and his team were unaware that the plane had contained cluster bombs which had not all been disposed of prior to the emergency landing. On discovering this fact, the jeep that Yoram was travelling in towards the plane was involved in a collision and Yoram suffered horrific injuries to his arm. Despite attempts to save his arm, he was left with no sensation so he chose to have it amputated. Yoram attended Beit Halochem in Tel Aviv where he soon became a very good tennis player and also joined the Golf Team and very quickly became a skilled golf player. His back-hand swing is reported to be miraculous!

Makbel Shofania, a Druze Beit Halochem Veteran lives in the Druze city of Shfar’am in the North of Israel.
During the 1982 First Lebanon War (Operation Peace for Galilee) he was critically wounded when his vehicle drove over a land mine. One of legs was amputated and the second one severely injured. After a lengthy rehabilitation, Shofania joined Haifa’s Beit Halochem. In 1985 he began playing wheelchair basketball and between 1986-1999 he was an active member of Israel’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team, taking part in several European and World Championships.
In 1988 he was chosen to represent his country at the Seoul Paralympic Games and was again chosen in 1992 at the Barcelona Games. In 2001 Shofania began playing Wheelchair Badminton and soon became a member of the National Israeli Team. He excelled at this sport as well, participating in numerous competitions including the World Championships. For the past four years he has been personal coach to Nina Gorodestzky, Israel’s No. 1 wheelchair badminton player and member of Haifa’s Beit Halochem.

In 2011 Shofania was awarded the Israel Minister of Culture and Sport Decoration for Excelling Athletes. Four years ago, Haifa’s Beit Halochem created a golf team which Shofania joined.

The event, which included breakfast, buffet lunch, a fabulous raffle and presentations by both Yoram and Makbel, raised £15,000 for the Beit Halochem Rehabilitation Centres in Israel which looks after the 51,000 wounded IDF veterans for the rest of their lives. Yoram praised the charity and everyone who attended on the day. Makbal ended his talk by saying: “I woujld like to finish by saying that when I entered the arm I swore on the bible that I would support my country and the citizens of Israel. I feel I gave my part and protected my country and now Beit Halochem is enabling me to start a new life.”