Where Israeli soldiers go to heal

Once treatment is over, counselors keep in touch with alumni to see how they're doing. Those in need can come back for a month or two. "Our team keeps an eye on them," says Frish. "We remind former patients of what they were like. We want them to remember."

Frish says he initially founded Kfar Izun to help young Israelis who had "lost their way while traveling." Backpacking around Asia is a common rite of passage for those fresh out of the army and eager for more benign adventures.

"Young people making a transition from the stiff, demanding, intrusive institution of the army to a very open, unconventional, enabling situation like traveling can have problems, especially if there are previously existing vulnerabilities," Frish says. Many of these travelers run into trouble with drugs, and some attempt suicide. Frish's group works with wayward travelers' friends and family to bring them back to Israel.

Frish eventually started taking in other young Israelis, after realizing that soldiers - particularly those with drug problems - had few places to go for help.

Counselors at Kfar Izun say the use of drugs like LSD and Ecstasy contributes to the emotional problems some young Israelis face, but they also point to the simple stress of being young here.

"The level of vulnerability is higher here than many places," Frish says. "Young people are exposed to terrorist attacks, they go through army service."

And then there is the intifada. This latest incarnation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has killed 211 soldiers, according to the army spokesperson's office. Army desertions have risen to the point that the military is no longer pursuing soldiers who go AWOL - there is no space left for them in military jails.

As Israel has reoccupied most Palestinian areas, soldiers come into increasingly close contact with the communities they keep under closure. "People are in fighting situations, they face death, and when that becomes something you do daily and you're physically stressed - you lack sleep and food - it begins to wear you down," says a counselor named Tomer. "You witness and participate in things you can't share with others and have to bottle this up inside you."

Many soldiers at Kfar Izun have come from elite units. "They aren't trained to deal with failure. They have high standards, and there is no emotional flexibility, so they are very prone to emotional crises when something goes wrong," says Tomer, a lean man whose baggy Thai-style pants and shaved head are reminiscent of his backpacking clients' style.

Patients have arrived at the village believing they are the messiah, that they caused the intifada, and that they are being watched and followed by the secret services.

Jade says she began to unravel psychologically after an extended trip to India, finding that everything seemed "wrong" when she got back here.

But her brown eyes light up when she talks about Kfar Izun, where patients' days are rigorously structured with gardening, cooking, and cleaning work punctuated by the occasional drug test.

"It's a very listening, empathetic place," she says. "They don't just see problems or see you as a pathology, they see all of you."

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