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May 31, 2013
An Israeli hero’s experience
Avigdor Kahalani is the featured guest at the Negev Dinner.
NICOLE NOZICK
A distinguished Israel Defence Forces veteran, civil servant and former cabinet minister in the Israeli Knesset, Brigadier General Avigdor Kahalani is best known for his heroic service during the Yom Kippur War when he commanded a battalion stationed on the Golan Heights. The then 29-year-old Kahalani led his troops against a formidable Syrian force, breaking through enemy lines and coming within 35 miles of Damascus. For his service during that conflict, Kahalani received Israel’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Valor. Kahalani, now retired from the IDF, will be honored at the Jewish National Fund Negev Dinner on Sunday, June 9.
When his military service ended, Kahalani continued to serve his country, entering local and then national politics. After a brief stint as deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, he was elected to Knesset as a Labor Party member in 1992, later serving as minister of public security under a Binyamin Netanyahu-led coalition government. In 2007, Kahalani was nominated chairman of the Agudah Lema’an Ha’chayal (the Association for the Welfare of Soldiers in Israel, AWIS) and he maintains that position to this day.
The Jewish Independent reached Kahalani on his cellphone late in the evening Israel time, as he drove home from a social engagement. Despite the late hour, the retired brigadier general was full of good humor, joking about his ability to multitask. “It’s not late for me,” he insisted. “I’m young and it’s not a problem … I can drive and listen and talk….”
Although almost four decades have passed since Kahalani ended his active service in the IDF, he still identifies himself first and foremost as a soldier. “I feel like a soldier, I grew up a soldier, an officer, a general, I fought many times for the country,” he said. “Now … I am the head of the organization that is taking care of the well-being of the soldiers.”
His army role has continued to define his public identity in Israel. “Everyone calls me General Avigdor Kahalani – what they remember is the time I was in uniform … they call me ‘the Hero of Israel,’” he shared. “I try to be humble, of course, but this is the name that people call me – the Hero of Israel – and I don’t hear people call me ‘the Ex-minister of Public Security.’ Being a soldier it is a very strong identity for me….”
Kahalani has a deep affinity for the IDF, professionally and personally. When asked what he considers to be the most serious issue facing Israel today, the IDF was foremost on his mind, and he responded with little hesitation. “I think, without the IDF there is no Israel. We should think about the [morale] of the youth, because everyone joins the army at 18. We should teach the young generation to understand that one day they have to hold the flag of the country ... to have the responsibility of the future of the country. I’m not worried … many people have a lot of motivation to join the army. This comes from the education system,” and from their families, he said.
Aside from a strong military, Israelis definitely need “strong morale,” he said, and it’s this issue that occupies his concern. “… We have to take care of the spirit of the soldiers,” he stressed. “What is important is the spirit of the soldiers. Spirit comes [in] many ways – from the families, from neighbors, schools, friends. From the moment they hold the rifle, they should ‘face the right way,’” with positivity and confidence.
Kahalani believes that without an immediate hope for peace, Israelis need to remain vigilant in the face of hostile neighbors. “Israel has many enemies; I don’t think peace is waiting around the corner,” he lamented. The “hatred is so deep. We Israelis don’t hate the Arabs, we didn’t teach our kids to hate, but they hate us so much. I’m sure that one day they will attack Israel, even when we are ready to shake their hands. All around, its going worse from day to day, in Libya, Syria, Tunisia, in Iran – I can tell you we have a very nice country, beautiful, modern.” People have many misconceptions about what it is like to live in Israel, he said, but Israel has “beautiful houses, factories, schools – it’s like America here.”
Even though Israel’s economic issues have taken the spotlight somewhat, according to Kahalani, Israelis have more pressing concerns, primarily those to do with security. “Some people talk about the economy, but people are spoiled,” he suggested. Though Israel lacks natural resources, for example,
Kahalani said, “The economy is OK. Some people yell they are poor, but the main problem is the threat from all around Israel. The economy, we will find a way. I don’t see people sleeping in the street; nobody sleeps in the streets in our country.”
Kahalani’s long career in the civil service has afforded him the opportunity to see Israeli politics from many angles – mostly from the inside – and he is supportive of the direction the current government is taking. “The government is complicated; to be a prime minister in Israel is very complicated,” he said. “Half the people in Israel [think they] have the ability to be prime minister. Do you know why people don’t make love in the street here? Everyone will stop to give you advice!” he joked. “To be the prime minister in our country is difficult. I think the way our government is working is the right way; I think we have a good government,” one that can reach consensus more easily now that the most recent government coalition was formed without the ultra-Orthodox, he said.
Returning to the topic of the IDF, Kahalani said that he believes that Israel and the IDF have acted very responsibly in its conflicts with its neighbors. “We have counted until 10 until we act,” he said. “In my point of view, the way we act, we are OK, this is the good way.”
Ilan Pilo, the Jerusalem emissary and executive director of the JNF of Canada, Pacific Region, said Kahalani was an obvious choice as keynote speaker for this year’s flagship event.
“The Negev Dinner is a tribute to the IDF and its heroes…. It is truly fitting that Kahalani was chosen … since, as the late chief of staff Raphael Eitan said about him, ‘The battle led by Brigadier General Kahalani proved to be one of the turning points of the Yom Kippur War.’ In Israel, Brigadier General Kahalani is a symbol of outstanding bravery and courage, and it is only thanks to those like him that Israel continues to exist and survive, in the face of enemies who wish to destroy the country since its establishment 65 years ago.”
This will be the first Negev Dinner under Pilo’s leadership; he arrived in Vancouver in January of this year. Pilo told the Independent that he is excited about his new position and the challenges ahead.
“I arrived in Vancouver with a strong sense of commitment and a fervent desire to continue and strengthen the bond between Israel and the Jewish community in the Diaspora. The Jewish National Fund is more than 110 years old and is determined to make Israel thrive and prosper, building infrastructures that improve the lives of Israelis throughout Israel,” he said. “All this could not have been possible without the support and generosity of Jews in the Diaspora in general, and those in Canada and Vancouver…. Before I left [Israel] on this mission, my sense was that this was going to be a special assignment. And, as it turns out, this is indeed an exceptional endeavor, in a beautiful location with a warm and supportive community that believes that the bond with Israel is important for the young generation as well, and is an integral part of maintaining the vibrancy of the Jewish community.”
The JNF Negev Dinner on June 9, also featuring members of the Israel Defence Forces Chorus, will be held at Schara Tzedek Synagogue. For details and tickets, call 604-257-5155 or e-mail [email protected].
Nicole Nozick is a Vancouver freelance writer and director of the Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival.
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