NATAL would like to wish all of our friends around the world a very happy Chanukah.

This year as you light your chanukah candles, please think of the thousands of Israeli citizens who have been emotionally scarred by acts of terror and war and cannot experience the joy of this beautiful festival.
NATAL is working tirelessly to bring the light back to these people’s lives again. Please help us to help them by making a

this Chanukah.

NATAL's Chairperson and Co-Founder, Judith Yovel Recanati

In 1998 Mrs. Yovel Recanati co-founded NATAL: Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War, and is involved in the center on a daily basis as a chairperson and volunteer.

Mrs. Yovel Recanati is the Founder and Chairman of the Gandyr Foundation,  Family foundation she established with her husband and three daughters  in 2004 for the purpose of strengthening Israeli society. The Gandyr Foundation places special emphasis on supporting civil society organizations that champion social causes and national values of the State of Israel. The Gandyr Foundation supports special projects for young people between the ages of 18-25 and helps youth movements in Israel. Judith serves as a board member of the The Yahel Foundation – the Recanati Family Foundation (since 1963) whose projects include the Recanati Science Museum in Haifa, providing scholarships to demobilized soldiers and new immigrants, establishing two business administration faculties, a medical research fund, a school for public health, cancer research and energy, building a seniors’ home and a synagogue among many others.

She is a registered art Psychotherapist, and received a Master’s degree in the Expressive Therapies from Lesley College at Boston. She also studied Psychotherapy at Bar-Ilan University and is a graduate of the Fay Ratner two-year program in Gestalt Studies at the School for Social Studies at the Tel Aviv University. Prior to that she graduated with a B.A from Tel Aviv University in Archaeology and is also a photographer

Before establishing NATAL, she conducted individual and group treatments through the arts, worked with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder patients at Beit Levinstein Hospital, the National Institute for the Rehabilitation of Head Injury Patients and the Neurological Rehabilitation Center, Sheba Medical Center

Ms. Yovel Recanati is married and the mother of three daughters. She is grandmother to three grandsons.

NATAL's Executive Director, Orly Gal

Colonel (Res.) Orly Gal, the Executive Director of NATAL, was born in Tel Aviv, and comes to the organization with 25 years of hard work and dedication to the IDF and a Masters Degree in Public Policy.  After serving in a number of prestigious positions, Orly was discharged from the IDF in 2005, with the rank of Colonel. 

Orly’s last position in the Army was that of Deputy IDF Spokesperson, where she was responsible for the entire Public Relations Department of the IDF. There, she oversaw the Army’s public relations in Israel and the foreign media and was commander to over 1,000 soldiers. In 2005 Orly represented the Army in the Prime Ministers Office, as a member of the Coordination and Strategy Team, which initiated and developed the information campaign for the disengagement plan. In addition she served as Secretary to the High Command. Between 1998 and 2003 she served as Head of Public Relations Office and Head of Information and Publicity Office in the IDF Spokespersons Office. Additionally, Orly served as a Jewish Agency emissary in Columbus, Ohio and in England with her family.

Since joining NATAL in March 2006, Orly successfully led the organization through the Second Lebanon War, the crisis in Sderot and Operation Cast Lead. As a result of her extensive PR experience she has helped to significantly increase NATAL’s presence in the national and international media.  She has had an incredibly positive impact on NATAL’s growth as the leading trauma center for victims of terror and war in Israel. Orly resides in Yavne with her husband and three daughters.  

• To be a multi-disciplinary treatment center for victims of terror and war related trauma and to improve their quality of life.
• To train professionals and at-risk populations in preventing and coping with trauma.
• To promote knowledge and awareness about terror and war related trauma in Israeli society.