IDF cancels annual ‘Sherutrom’ fund-raiser

The IDF announced its decision on Sunday to cancel an annual Hanukka fund-raiser aimed at raising cash from companies.

The decision to cancel the fund-raiser, known as the Sherutrom, came after the military’s personnel division decided that it was “no longer necessary or relevant,” the IDF Spokesman’s Office said.

In recent years, companies that have vowed funds at the event have failed to transfer money, Channel 10 said in a report, adding that the amounts that were received did not contribute to soldiers significantly.

Since 1979, the fundraiser has been held every year, and broadcast on television and radio, with leading musicians featured in the program.

In 2011, about NIS 19 million was raised, according to the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel’s Soldiers. The highest amount was raised in 2006, when NIS 33m. was donated.

In place of the fund-raiser, the IDF plans to organize an event to honor combat soldiers that will not involve raising cash.

Former Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni praised the decision to cancel the fund-raiser.

“Although this is a small matter, it is a matter of principle,” she said. She described the idea of asking for help from donors on behalf of the military as “intolerable,” adding, “the State of Israel must be the one to care for IDF soldiers. There are other ways of co-opting those who want to help.”