Hometown love: Philadelphia natives find romance in the IDF

Paratrooper Sgt. Josh Kaner and Israeli Air Force fitness instructor Cpl. Maayan Saad each grew up in Philadelphia, but it wasn't until they moved to Israel and joined the Israel Defense Forces through the Garin Tzabar program that they met and fell in love.

"I arrived in Israel a month before Maayan, and I joined the Garin group in Kibbutz Afikim in the Jordan Valley," Kaner, 20, said. "That's where we fell in love, and we haven't been apart since."

Though they grew up in the same city, the pair had never crossed paths before moving to Israel.

"My aunt knows Josh's mom, but we had never met and we didn't go to the same school," Saad, 20, said.

After a few months spent working on the kibbutz and studying Hebrew, they were each drafted to the army.

"In the beginning, Josh would spend a lot of time on base -- sometimes 28 days straight, sometimes 21," Saad recalled. "But when we had time off together, our love grew, and it was really fun."

Now, Saad and Kaner are both visiting their families in Philadelphia before returning to their service.

"I have six months left and Josh has a year," Saad said. "After that, we'll go traveling, study and get married."

Kaner, who fought in last year's Operation Protective Edge, said, "I received a Zionist education since I was a child, and it seems to have worked. I always dreamed of moving to Israel and serving in a combat role in the IDF, and now that dream is coming true."

Saad said she moved to Israel because she wanted "to do something meaningful with life. Not like everyone else in the United States who just goes to college and continues along this preset path.

"I am happy that I chose to move to Israel and join the IDF, and of course we plan to build our future here in Israel."

Saad and Kaner were able to enjoy their flight home to Philadelphia as part of a joint initiative between the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers and Friends of the IDF chapters in the United States and in Panama. Through the Missing Home project, these organizations provide lone Israeli soldiers with free plane tickets to visit their families.

Over the last year, FIDF donated more than $2 million to fund some 1,500 flights home for lone Israeli soldiers, including those who fought in Operation Protective Edge.

AWIS chairman Brig. Gen. (res.) Avigdor Kahalani said, "We are proud to be partners in a project that is so important to the lone soldiers in Israel, who leave their homes and their families for several years and come here to join the effort to defend our homeland."

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