If you’ve searched “HaYovel The Israel Guys” or wondered whether HaYovel and The Israel Guys are separate organizations, here’s the official story of how HaYovel’s volunteer work in Samaria and The Israel Guys media outreach are related.
Yes. HaYovel Inc. is the U.S. nonprofit that has been serving in Israel, making videos, and hosting volunteer trips since 2007. The Israel Guys is the public-facing name that nonprofit now operates under for its news, videos, newsletter, and volunteer programs. It’s always been one organization and one mission, just two names used at different points in its history.
For years, HaYovel ran two separate things side by side: a volunteer program that provided a way for Christians to serve and help on farms in Samaria, and a media outreach that told Israel’s story. Over the years, that media arm included The Joshua & Caleb Report TV show, The Heartland Report newsletter, and The Israel Guys YouTube show. Today, all the work lives under one unified name: The Israel Guys.
Nothing happened to it — it’s still here, still the legal entity, and still filing as the nonprofit organization that continues to carry the same mission forward. What changed is simply what we call the public-facing side of the work.
Tommy Waller and his family started traveling to Israel in 2004 to prune and harvest on small farms in Samaria. By 2007, they’d formalized that into HaYovel — a nonprofit created to bring Christian volunteers to Israel and give them a way to serve alongside Israeli farmers. For over a decade, that volunteer program is what most people knew us for.
Alongside it, we built a second track: telling Israel’s story to the world. That started with the Joshua & Caleb Report TV show in 2013, moved to a podcast, and expanded into a newsletter called The Heartland Report in 2019. Eventually both tracks had grown large enough that it made sense to unify them under one name our worldwide audience could recognize—and pronounce—at a glance. That name is The Israel Guys.
Because our audience was hearing two different names for one team, and that was getting in the way. Volunteers knew us as HaYovel. People who listened to our podcast or watched us on YouTube knew us as The Israel Guys. Even though we were the same team with the same mission, the names made it look like we were two separate organizations.
The Israel Guys is the name that says clearly what we do: a team on the ground in Israel who is passionate about making a way for everyone to be connected to Israel — whether that’s boots on the ground in the biblical heartland, or through getting authentic truth and inspiring stories online from wherever you are in the world. So HaYovel didn’t go away — it’s still the legal name on our filings and on your donation receipt. The Israel Guys is simply the public-facing name everyone knows us by today.
Yes. HaYovel Inc. is an active U.S. 501(c)(3), and it’s the same organization that’s been sending volunteers to Israel since 2007. It’s the legal entity behind our mission, our YouTube channel, our service to the farms of Judea and Samaria, and our team on the ground in Har Bracha. The Israel Guys is the public-facing name (DBA) that HaYovel Inc. operates under today.
You can confirm HaYovel The Israel Guys’ active 501(c)(3) status yourself anytime through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search — or reach out to our team directly and we’re glad to answer any questions you have.
No difference. Every gift given to HaYovel, going back to our founding in 2007, has funded the exact same work we’re doing today: standing with Israel, serving the farmers of Judea and Samaria, and telling Israel’s story to the world. The only thing that’s changed is the name you now see on our videos, emails, and social posts.
HaYovel is Hebrew for “Jubilee” — the year described in Leviticus 25, when land was restored to its original families and debts were released. That’s where the name came from in 2007: a nonprofit built around the idea of restoration, land, and the Jewish people returning to where they belong. The Israel Guys carries that same mission forward; it just says it in a way that’s easier for an English-speaking audience to recognize and remember.
Yes. Tommy Waller made that first trip to Israel in 2004 and founded with his family in 2007. Today his son, Joshua Waller, leads the organization as CEO, and Tommy is still part of the team, living in Har Bracha alongside everyone serving here. You’ll find him listed as Founder on our team page.
If you volunteered with us years ago, gave to HaYovel before we were known as The Israel Guys, or just want to see what the team is up to now, here’s how to reconnect:
