In 2002, two young immigrants from France arrived at Boys Town Jerusalem. Raphael Ouzan and Binyamin Touito, both 15, had come to Israel without their parents; neither could speak, read or write Hebrew. As they began their high school studies at Boys Town, no one could have imagined that just seven years later, the president of Israel and the entire nation would salute these young men for their outstanding service to the country.

Raphael and Binyamin, who lived and studied at Boys Town as participants in the Na’ale Zion program for youth who immigrate to Israel on their own, were among 120 soldiers and officers of the Israel Defense Forces to be honored by President Shimon Peres on Israel’s 61st Independence Day. They received certificates of excellence from the president at a formal ceremony for outstanding soldiers, held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.

“These soldiers have been chosen as examples of professional excellence,” said Mr. Peres, as the young soldiers and officers stood solemnly before him. “They represent the Israel we would like to see.”

A Previous Meeting

The Independence Day ceremony was not Raphael Ouzan’s first meeting with an Israeli president. In a 2005, he was invited to the President’s Residence to receive personal congratulations from then-president Moshe Katzav, after a computer-based video surveillance system designed by Raphael as a Boys Town computer science project won first prize in Intel-Israel’s annual Young Scientist Competition. Raphael went on to represent Israel in the 2006 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Indianapolis, where he placed second in the category of computer science after competing with 1300 students from more than 30 nations.

“Besides teaching me Hebrew and helping me adjust to life in Israel,” recalls Raphael, whose parents followed in his footsteps and now live in Israel, “Boys Town’s Comprehensive Integrated Technology (CIT) program helped me grasp the practical side of computers and gain the knowledge I needed to develop my project.”

After graduating from Boys Town Jerusalem, Raphael was accepted into an IDF intelligence unit, and he has since trained as an officer. Now a lieutenant, the Boys Town graduate recently returned to the school with Benjamin Touito to speak with the current group of new immigrant Naale Zion students now living at Boys Town. “You need to have a dream,” he told them, “and you must do everything you can to make that dream a reality.”

Ouzon firmly states that he no longer considers himself an immigrant. “I am an Israeli,” he insists, adding that he feels very strongly about giving back to the country that has done so much for him. “I feel a tremendous responsibility to the IDF, and I try to transmit that responsibility to all of the soldiers who are now under my command.”

Proving Themselves

Binyamin Touito agrees with his longtime friend. “The most important thing I learned at Boys Town was a sense of personal responsibility to Israel. I came here with very little knowledge about Israel, and the Naale program gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn Hebrew and Jewish Studies and go on fieldtrips to explore Israeli history and society.”

Speaking to the current Naale students, Touito says he always knew he’d enlist in the IDF, but admitted that acclimating to army service was “like being a new immigrant all over again.

“Being a new immigrant is a shlichut a mission,” he explained. “As immigrants, we are always in a position to be proving ourselves.”

Now a first sergeant in the paratroopers, Binyamin faced the additional challenge of serving as a chayal boded a lone soldier whose parents and five siblings still live in Paris.

Binyamin and Raphael both served in Operation Cast Lead, the recent war in Hamas-controlled Gaza. For security reasons, they cannot provide any details of their assignments, but Binyamin says simply, “We did our job well, with the highest professional and ethical regard.”

The soldiers feel that their IDF service has made them feel even more a part of Israeli society than ever before. “This prize is for all olim (new immigrants),” they agree.

Now in its 8th year, Boys Town Jerusalem’s Naale Zion program presently includes 75 students in four classes.

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