IDF reservist Chaim Malespin brings battlefield experience to Jordan Valley preparedness

Chaim Malespin has spent much of the past three years in uniform, serving as an IDF reservist after being called up on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023. A veteran of the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit, Malespin has seen firsthand how quickly a community can be tested when an emergency strikes.

Now, while continuing his military service, he is applying that experience to a different mission: helping communities in the Jordan Valley prepare for the next emergency.

Through his leadership of the Aliyah Return Center and Faithful Galileans, two nonprofits working to strengthen communities in northern Israel and the Jordan Valley, Malespin has teamed up with local authorities, security and rescue personnel, and a private drone company to strengthen civilian emergency response capabilities.

The initiative provides volunteers with advanced equipment and specialized drone training to help detect infiltrations and suspected smuggling attempts, search difficult-to-access areas and assist in search-and-rescue operations during security incidents and natural disasters.

“The Jordan Valley is also an area of paramount strategic and security importance and requires a significant strengthening of its local security and emergency response capabilities,” Malespin said.

To address those needs, he teamed up with SkyNext UAV Solutions, a private drone company, along with the Jordan Valley Regional Council and local security and rescue personnel to provide equipment and specialized drone training. Fourteen volunteers have already completed the first training course, with additional volunteers signed up for the next one.

“Drones are not just cameras in the sky. They can help detect infiltrators, scan areas that are difficult to access, search for missing persons, and assist in search-and-rescue operations. The ability to counter hostile drones carrying weapons or explosives will also become increasingly important,” Malespin said.

Preparing for natural disasters is also an important part of the initiative. Israel lies along an active seismic zone, and the Jordan Valley has experienced significant earthquake activity throughout its history.

“What especially encourages me is the fact that so many of the people doing this work are volunteers who aren’t waiting for someone else to solve the problem. They give their time, learn professional skills, and prepare themselves to protect and rescue their neighbors,” Malespin said.

Plans are also underway to expand the program by strengthening search-and-rescue capabilities, developing service and rescue dog programs, increasing emergency equipment stockpiles and potentially adding an ambulance to the region’s volunteer emergency response network.

“Every drone, every trained volunteer, every rescue tool and every partnership makes the Jordan Valley a little stronger,” Malespin said. “That’s what I love about the north. It’s a place where people come together, roll up their sleeves and take responsibility for one another. It’s a place with heart.”

The Aliyah Return Center assists new immigrants with their integration into Israeli society, including by providing food, clothing, furniture, housing, Hebrew-language studies and vocational training. The Faithful Galileans, meanwhile, works to train supporters and “ambassadors” for Israel from around the world through education, volunteering and hands-on experiences in Israel.

Malespin told ALL ISRAEL NEWS that he envisions eventually establishing a drone academy where young Israelis could receive training, while appropriately vetted international supporters could potentially participate in legal civilian programs focused on search and rescue, disaster response, thermal imaging, missing-person searches, firefighting support and emergency preparedness.

“Imagine coming to Israel for several weeks and leaving with more than photographs. You studied. You trained. You volunteered. You helped an immigrant family. You served a community. Maybe you learned emergency drone operations. Then you went back to your nation as an ambassador who actually understands Israel,” he said.

“After enough time in uniform, you learn that you cannot predict every crisis,” Malespin said. “But you can decide what kind of people you are going to be when the crisis comes.”

“That is the larger vision: to prepare for the next wave of aliyah, train the next generation, equip communities, build informed ambassadors, strengthen Israel’s friends, stand against antisemitism, care for the wounded, and bring people and organizations together before the next emergency forces them to, because preparedness is not panic. It is responsibility.”

Follow Chaim Malespin on his YouTube channel, The Real Israel.