The ballroom at the Royal Lancaster Hotel was silenced by paratroop brigade veteran Ido Lazan, who seven years ago was shot in the chest and leg in a terrorist attack while celebrating a friend’s birthday at a Tel Aviv bar. 

“To this day I clearly remember the feeling of dying. Thanks to being mentally and physically fit I survived,” the 41-year-old said.

Having taken part in physiotherapy at one of Beit Halochem’s state-of-the-art centres, he recalled: “It was there that my feeling of the healing power of community was formed. This place quickly became my second home. A few months after I was shot I opened up a X-fit studio called Bulletproof, close to the place of the attack.”

Lazan – who also established a X-fit club for young veterans at Beit Halochem’s Tel Aviv centre – has played a key role in the Veteran Games, which brings together British and Israeli veterans suffering physical or psychological injuries. The initiative was founded by Beit Halochem UK in 2019 and 62 British former ex-servicemen and women, along with their families recently returned from the third annual event in Israel.

The Veteran Games recently became a charity in it’s own right. It’s CEO and former Royal Marine Andrew Garland read testimony about the impact of the 2023 Games from a participant and told guests that several other countries had been in contact about joining the Games in future. But any decision on expanding the project, he vowed, would not be rushed so as to avoid compromising the “magic” of the Games.

Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, suggested the veterans that take part in the Games have a bigger impact than when advocates speak of Israel’s vast achievements in tech. “As an embassy we do a lot of government to government activities and a lot on trade but we need to do more people to people. The Veteran Games is a beautiful example.”

Spencer Gelding, CEO of Beit Halochem UK, said: “Once again our donors have shown their unwavering support for the life-changing work of Beit Halochem. A huge thank you to them and to Ido and Yoseph for their powerful and moving contributions to another unforgettable night.”