Where Are We Located?
Nachshon began at Nili, in Matte Binyamin, where it was located in 1997–2002 (Cohorts 1–5). In 2002 the program moved to Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed-Heh, where it remained until 2006 (Cohorts 6–9). In 2006–2017 it moved to the Metzudat Yoav historical site, adjacent to Sde Yoav (Cohorts 10–20). In 2007, an additional group was created in the Mevo’ot HaNegev educational community, at Kibbutz Shoval, in 2010 a new one was formed in Sderot (beginning in Cohort 14) and in 2018 a third one at Kibbutz Gal-On (Cohorts 21–27).
Today we operate on three sites – Kibbutz Shoval, Sderot and Mikveh Israel.
Sderot
Sderot was founded in 1951 as a transit camp for immigrants from Kurdistan and Iran, and continued to absorb immigrants over the years, first from Romania and Iraq and later, in the 1990s, from Ethiopia and from the Commonwealth of Independent States (the former Soviet Union). At the beginning of 2010, when IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi visited, the city’s residents were asked why there was no pre-military program in the city. The name of Nachshon was mentioned and it met the challenge: at the beginning of July 2010 the Nachshon program in Sderot became a reality. Cohort 14 was the first year of this special group.
Mikveh Israel
Mikveh Israel was the first Jewish settlement in Israel founded after the period of the “Old Yishuv.” The name Mikveh Israel (“Hope of Israel”) originates from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 13: “O Hope of Israel! O Lord! All who forsaken You shall be put to shame, those in the land who turn from You shall be doomed men, for they have forsaken the Lord, the Fount of living waters.” In September 2024 the first Nachshon group opened in the youth village, Cohort 28.
Lehavim ("Benco")
The new group, which opened in the 29th cycle (2025), is named after Sergeant Ben Cohen, the late – a native of Lehavim, a fighter in Sayeret Nahal (934), who fell in battle in southern Lebanon on March 30, 2026, aged 21 when he fell.