A British Jew who made aliyah as a teenager is celebrating after convincing the IDF to make classical music part of the culture of the army base he serves on.
Benjamin Goodman, who moved to Israel from Oxford in 2004, launched a campaign earlier this year to convince his commanders to allow a piano on the base and have the soldiers put on a concert.
According to Ha'aretz, his idea won the backing of Andrew Balcombe, chairman of the British Zionist Federation's Israel office, who led fundraising efforts to provide the piano.
The concert was so successful that the 20-year-old Mr Goodman, who works in the army's education division, is now hoping to make music a part of general training. An IDF spokesman said that the army base concert would be the first of many.
Mr Goodman is one of 30 "exceptional" musicians permitted by the army to only serve part - time in order to continue practising.