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By Harvey Weiner, JWV National Judge Advocate

Sometime around 1982 during the Galilee War, my wife and I were asked to host a dinner for a visiting retired Israel Defense Force (IDF) general, who was in the United States recruiting civilian volunteers to come to Israel to help the IDF in support positions. We had a pleasant evening with Dr. Aharon Davidi (z”l), the former head of the IDF Paratroopers and Infantry Corps. Over cognac, about which the general was an expert, I somehow promised him that I would eventually participate in his program if it came to fruition. As a result of his efforts, in the spring of 1983, “Sar-El”, —the National Project for Volunteers for Israel – was founded as a non-profit, non-political organization. “Sar-El” is the Hebrew acronym meaning “Service for Israel.”

Each year since then, volunteers, including those in their 70’s and 80’s, work on non-combat IDF bases throughout Israel doing support work for a one to three week period. Although such volunteers are civilians and not members of the IDF, they are led by madrachot, who are IDF soldiers. Volunteers work on a Sunday through Thursday schedule doing work such as quartermaster/supply work, base maintenance, maintenance and equipment repair, kitchen work or construction. Weekends are for traveling, sightseeing and visiting family and friends. There are frequent interesting lectures and question and answer sessions with Sar-El and military personnel. Of course, you work side by side with IDF soldiers, many of whom are now proud owners of Boston Red Sox pens. Alas, there are no JWV pens!

The free facilities are spartan and not a little nostalgic. Volunteers live in communal barracks in sleeping bags on cots with communal bathrooms. There is no central heat or air conditioning. Hot water is at a premium. Men and women are housed separately, including married couples. The mess hall food, however, is filling.

In December, 2015, over thirty-three years after I had rashly made a promise to the General, I spent two weeks for Sar-El in an army base in central Israel. Better late than never. We were a group of fourteen and worked very hard collecting, inventorying and crating military supplies, particularly tank maintenance equipment and parts. One of our speakers told us that Sar-El volunteers have unusually high productivity, presumably because they are motivated and because they only have a very short time commitment. There is both an initiation ceremony, during which the Sar-El epaulettes are placed on you, and a graduation ceremony, during which you receive the Sar-El pin and a Certificate of Appreciation.

The makeup of Sar-El volunteers is diverse. About 4,000 volunteers come per year and in 2014 they were from 51 countries. Tellingly, in 2014, France had the most volunteers with 1,161 with the U.S. having 938. France, of late, has the most people making Aliyah. In our group of fourteen, there were volunteers from Canada, England and South Africa, as well as the United States, and we were joined for a brief period on our bus by a small group from Hungary and Holland. There was also a Christian in our group, who is an avid supporter of Israel. Most of my Sar-El volunteer group were repeats and one woman in our group was there for the 13th time. The group bonded and there was a great sense of camaraderie and friendship, as well as a lot of laughs.

One day, the group went north of Haifa on a tour of the Ghetto Fighters’ Museum and there became the first to plant yellow daffodils in Israel as part of Project Daffodil, whereby it is intended to plant 1.5 million daffodils throughout the world in memory of the 1.5 million children who were murdered in the Shoah. (See daffodilproject.net )

There are no upper age limits for volunteers, and there were two volunteers in our group in their 70’s, but one should be relatively fit and healthy and willing to work. I was given one of the daily honors of raising the Israeli flag on the Israeli base followed by the singing of Hatikvah. My ancestors (and General Davidi) would have kvelled. (Many of the facts above are taken from the Sar-El website).

You can tie in a Sar-El experience prior to the JWV Israel trip, as did Membership Chair Barry Lischinsky, or you can do it independently, as I did and as National Quartermaster Nelson Mellitz did.

Volume 73. Number 1. 2019

The Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. (JWV) is proud to announce that after months of fighting to correct the slanderous statements about Jewish American military service by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Ms. Hotovely has finally apologized to all Jewish American service members and veterans as well to JWV as the premier Jewish American Veteran organization.  On January 28, 2018, Minister Hotovely sent a letter where she apologized to Jewish American service members and veterans of all wars.  “My words were shortsighted and not reflective of my beliefs, and I deeply apologize,” she said.

Minister Hotovely previously apologized on Israeli television about her comments, but she only apologized to lone soldiers in Israel and to American soldiers that served in World War II.  She conveniently left out the veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – the same wars she said American Jews did not serve in.  On January 18, 2017, the Past National Commanders of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. penned a letter to Ambassador Ron Dermer to demand that Minister Hotovely apologize directly to the Jewish veterans of all conflicts and to apologize to those families who have lost someone fighting for our shared democratic values.

Ms. Hotovely has finally corrected this injustice, and we hope to see her at the Museum of American Jewish Military History on her next visit to Washington, DC.  Until then, JWV will continue to work on educating the American and Israeli public about the proud and rich history of Jewish American military service.Tzipi Hotovely Letter

Yesterday, President Donald Trump made a historic move to fulfill his campaign promise to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem – a welcome move for us here at the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.    For the past 20 years, U.S. presidential candidates have promised the American and Israeli people to move the embassy to Jerusalem upon their election.  However, once elected, Presidents have back away from their promises – fearing it would undermine peace talks and incite violence.

We cannot not be intimidated because of the possibility that recognizing Jerusalem will incite violence.  If violence results because of the move, it will be unfortunate, but it is also worth remembering that President Truman’s recognition of Israel was also met with violence – which ended with Israel having more territory than previously recommended in the U.N. Partition Plan.

Every president since President Truman has failed to bring about a lasting peace to the conflict.   For nearly 70 years, American presidents have been proposing the same solutions over and over again, while expecting different results.  It has clearly been shown that maintaining the status quo only emboldens Palestinian terrorism and leads to more bloodshed.

Whether the international community recognizes it or not, Jerusalem is both the ancient and modern the capital of Israel.  The Knesset, the Prime Minister’s offices and the bulk of Israeli government institutions are all located in Jerusalem.  Due to the historical connection between Judaism and Jerusalem as their capital, it is unlikely that Israelis will ever be moved to change the location of their capital.  Basically, having the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv was not merely only a symbolic gesture to appease those that still question Israel’s legitimacy, but also, it is just a humongous waste of gas.

We hope that this momentous decision by the Trump administration will lead bring a lasting peace in the region.  It shows that America supports Israel’s legitimacy and its rights as a sovereign state, including its right to choose its own capital.  Here at Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., we commend President Trump on his move.  We know that whatever deal decided upon by the Israelis and Palestinians, there is one thing we know for sure – Jerusalem is and will always be the heart and capital of Israel.