Israeli soldiers sit in their tank on the outskirts of Nablus, ready for the smallest indication of Palestinian terrorist activity. The night is dark; the location is hostile and unknown. The soldiers' mission is full of personal discomfort and danger, yet it is one of utmost importance - safeguarding the citizens of Israel. Then time comes for a well-deserved break, and the pizza delivery arrives.

"It is impossible to put into words what the arrival of pizza can do for a tank crew sitting on the outskirts of Nablus," writes Lt. Col. Efraim Hivsh, commander of the 7050 Battalion. "Light in their eyes, warmth in their stomachs and the heart that glows with love," he adds, describing the appreciation of the soldiers in his command to those who ordered the pizza.

Behind the platters of pizza is an online morale booster called Pizza for Israeli Soldiers at http://www.pizzaidf.org/. The website allows supporters to send Pizza and Pepsi to active duty soldiers. "These soldiers include those on regular military service as well as those who have left their homes, families and jobs to serve the Jewish people as miluim (reserve duty) fighters," the website says.

Four different pizza "packages" are available on the site, ranging from a pizza pie and bottle of Pepsi for a patrol at $16.95, to a much larger order for a platoon of soldiers at $89.95. All products are Kosher l'mehadrin, allowing all soldiers receiving them to be able to eat them. The delivery costs are included in the price; the pizzas are sent from various pizzerias ensuring their hot delivery to the soldiers on duty.

"As we are taught that the highest form of charity is to help people to work with dignity, we feel, in our small way, that we are contributing positively to the overall situation," say the website organizers - Menachem Kuchar, Shimon Aharon and Perry Zamek.

The website has been online for about a month, and was publicized on Internet sites and in a number of stories that appeared in the press. "The results have been much greater than our most optimistic expectations," Aharon says. Aharon, who is currently serving his own stint of reserve duty at the Tapuach Junction, says the pizzas even made it to his unit there.

"In a month some 4,000 pizza pies were donated," he says. "The orders are continuing to come in. 90% of the orders came from the United States, and the rest were received from Europe."

"As American Jews, we would like to thank you for defending the state of Israel in these difficult times. Our prayers for your safety and a lasting peace come with this pizza," says a message received from New Jersey.

"Thank you for fighting to keep our homeland free for all of us," says a message from New York.

Yediot Aharonot sent a reporter and a photographer out one night with the pizza distribution. According to the paper, the soldiers' response was ecstatic. "In the middle of a patrol, when you are dying of hunger, there is nothing better than a hot pizza," said one soldier.

Yediot Aharonot's headline said that the IDF soldiers were being "bombarded" with pizzas. The Hebrew word for "bombarded" sounds like "pizza." The snack's hot delivery shows but a slice of the support and appreciation for Israel's soldiers on the front lines.

Delivery of pizza donated to IDF units may require additional security inspections, Maariv reported today. According to the newspaper, soldiers in the IDF's Central Command are forbidden to receive deliveries that they did not order, due to the fear that hostile elements may take advantage of the good will and booby-trap the pizza boxes.

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