50 YEARS SINCE ENTEBBE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION

Recalling the Entebbe rescue brought back memories of the heroism of two South Africans in Israel’s ‘The Great Escape’.

By David E. Kaplan

One of the bravest and most successful rescue operations in human history, many who were around at the time will recall where they were when the story broke. I was a law student in South Africa travelling by car between Durban and Cape Town and was sitting in a Wimpy Bar in Grahamstown when the restaurant’s TV broke to Breaking News to announce the unfolding drama. Little did I know at the time that years later I would be interviewing two South African heroes who participated in the rescue Dr. Jossy Faktor and Ricky Davis. Both had been members of South African Jewish youth movements before immigrating to Israel.

**Honouring Heroism.** Formally of Pretoria, South Africa, Dr. Jossy Faktor (right) of ‘The Entebbe Raid’ medical team, receives a Lieutenant Colonel rank from Chief of Staff, Ehud Barak (left), duly assisted by Faktor’s wife Barbara and their granddaughter.

The crisis that led to the Entebbe Raid began on the 27th June, when four terrorists seized an Air France plane, flying from Israel to Paris with 248 passengers on board. The hijackers – two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two from Germany’s Baader-Meinhof gang – diverted the aircraft, ‘flight 139’ to Entebbe. There, the hijackers were joined by three more colleagues who then demanded the release of fifty-three of their associates held in jails in Israel and four other countries. The clock was ticking. If the detainees were not released, they would begin killing hostages.

SHADES OF THE SHOAH

The plot of the unfolding saga drew in a global audience mesmerized by the twists and turns of a modern-day Homeric epic. Abduction and rescue – the stage was set for a cataclysmic clash of wills. On the one side, an anguished Israel, while on the other, German and Palestinian terrorists aided and abetted by one of Africa’s most notorious dictators, President Idi Amin. Stories abounded by this man’s evil proclivities, notable that he had a certain taste for eating his enemies.

It was said that his palace fridge had been a real ‘who’s who’ in Ugandan politics – leftovers to go with the salad. Some 3,400 kilometres away, a nervous Israeli government was agonizing which way to move. No options were risk free.

The terrorists then played a card that simplified the decision.

They separated the passengers – Jews from non-Jews – releasing the latter. Shades of the Shoah colored the unfolding drama and Israel now stood alone.

The Jewish state also knew what it had to do.

It was a proud cast of characters who participated in the mission dubbed by the Israeli military – “Operation Thunderbolt”. Amongst the medical team on board one of the four C-130 Hercules aircraft, was a former South African from Pretoria, Dr. Jossy Faktor. A gynecologist and obstetrician, Jossy at the time was serving in the permanent force of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and would later rise to become its Surgeon General.

**Dreaming About Tomorrow**. Planning for life in Israel, Jossy Faktor (sitting far right) in the late 1950s together with the national leadership of South Africa’s Jewish youth movement ‘Habonim’ in Johannesburg. (Credit: Habonim Dror)

When the call came summoning the 36-year-old doctor to report for duty, Jossy and his wife Barbara were clicking champagne glasses celebrating the tenth wedding anniversary of their old Habonim friends, the Kessels in Ra’anana. Little did they all know when Jossy hurriedly stepped out of Terry and Carol’s front door, that he was about to enter the history books.

At roughly the same time, 21-year-old Ricky Davis was with his paratrooper unit at Wingate when the call came through. Only two years earlier, Ricky, a member of Betar in Port Elizabeth, made Aliyah and within three months joined the IDF. “We immediately packed up and assembled at a base near Petach Tikva. Although we were aware of the hijack drama playing out at Entebbe, we had no idea that we would be connected. We went on so many hair-raising missions into Lebanon and Jordan in those days that we assumed it was another of the ‘usual ops.”

**Ready To Rescue.** Originally from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Ricky Davis at the time of ‘The Entebbe Raid’, whose unit was tasked with neutralizing the Ugandan Russian Migs on the airport tarmac.

Once assembled at the base:

“Everything became top secret. We began training, still not knowing our destination. Only at the last stage, were we brought into the picture. My unit was to secure the escape by destroying, in advance, anything that could jeopardize our escape.”

“NO GOING BACK”

The next day saw Jossy being briefed by the Surgeon General, the late Dan Michaeli. “I was instructed to quickly put together an aero-medical team.” Although Jossy’s specialization was gynecology, he had been trained in aviation medicine that included ensuring the health of aircrews and aero-medical evacuations. While there had been missions and escapades in the past, nothing would come close to what he was to experience in the next few days. “The success of the operation was secrecy, and because the public at the time was well aware of the hostage crisis, we had to come up with something to deflect attention. Also, we needed to obtain a large supply of blood from Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Cross), and that necessitated a credible cover story. We did not want anyone – least of all the media – questioning why we suddenly needed so much blood. Because nothing quite like this had ever been attempted, we had no idea of what casualties to expect. Anyway, the word went out that a crisis was developing on the northern border with Lebanon, and we would need medical teams and blood. The story held, and we took off with only those involved in the operation in the know.”

The final briefings were divided according to the different roles to be performed by the various participants. “We were briefed by Dr. Ephraim Sneh, who was the overall commander of the medical teams.”

Jossy describes the flight as long and uneventful.

“We left Friday morning and landed at Sharem el Sheik, stopping for essentially two reasons. Firstly, for refueling. We had enough to get us to Entebbe, but no more. And as we did not expect the ground staff at Entebbe to accommodate us by refueling our planes, we needed sufficient fuel to take off after the rescue and make it to Nairobi.” The other reason for the stopover was no less intriguing. “When we took off in Israel, the Cabinet had still not decided to go through with the mission. The risks obviously weighed enormously with them and so wanted to keep the option to abort open until the last moment. On the runway at Sharem El Sheik, we received the final green light. Now there was no going back.”

**Fake News.** Rather than report that Israel recues its hostages, a Ugandan newspaper reports that “Israelis invade Entebbe”.

CHATTING IN THE COCKPIT

The last stretch of the flight to Entebbe “we flew at a very low altitude to avoid radar detection. The turbulence was heavy, but it did not bother me,” says Jossy. “I recall there was very little chatting; everyone was so wrapped up with their own thoughts. I spent much of my time in the cockpit as the captain, Amnon Halivni, was a good friend of mine.”

Jossy traveled with the medical teams in the fourth Hercules. “Our plane was virtually empty ready to accommodate the hostages and expected wounded.”

The other three planes carried ground forces, with the black Mercedes Benz and Land Rovers on board the first aircraft. The word out on the street was that the Mercedes was owned by an Israeli civilian and was apparently sprayed black so it would appear as the Ugandan’s president’s car when approaching the terminal building. However, the intelligence was dated. The two Ugandan sentries on duty that morning were well aware that their President had recently purchased a white Mercedes replacing his black one. They ordered the motorcade to stop. Had they had the opportunity for a closer look they would have also noticed that the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, but by that time, they were both dead.

**Planed To Perfection.** The Black Mercedes used to fool Uganda soldiers in the Israeli raid on Entebbe parked aboard an Israeli transport plane with commandos from Sayeret Matkal. (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

In fear of prematurely alerting the terrorists inside the terminal, the subterfuge motorcade sped up and the assault teams quickly went into action.

INTO BATTLE

Jossy’s aircraft had been the last to land. Throughout the operation “we stayed on board, preparing for the arrival of our passengers. It took just under forty minutes for the first casualties to arrive. The waiting was the worst. We felt like sitting ducks as the battle ensured. In the end we needed only six stretchers, one of which was used for Yoni Netanyahu, who died on the way to the aircraft.”

Ricky’s unit, tasked with getting away safely, took care of the Russian Migs on the airport tarmac. “The real danger was that they could give chase, easily catch us, and shoot us down. We were not taking any chances and blew them up with anti-tank missiles.” Adds this warrior, “Yes, we stopped for coffee in Nairobi on the return flight home.”

The enormity of what these daring men had pulled off “only sunk in,” says Jossy “when we touched down at Tel Nof Airbase and were met by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres. It was only then, safe on Israeli soil, that people felt free to express their emotions.”

**Decisive Duo**. Taking enormous risks that paid off, Defense Minister Shimon Peres (right) with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) welcoming the released Entebbe hostages upon their return to Israel on July 4, 1976. (Defense Ministry Archives)

AND THEN THERE WAS THREE…

Another South African would emerge in the aftermath of the Entebbe Raid. His name is Maurice Rogev, a famed forensic pathologist who had settled in Israel in the 1960s after legendary activities across East Africa that fed rumors “not without foundation,” to be in the sometime-service of the Mossad. All this he revealed to me in an exclusive interview in 1997.

**Prowling Pathologist**. Searching for bodies, forensic pathologist Maurice Rogev (left) in Kenya during the Mau-Mau uprising where he met Kenyata and later attracted the attention of the Mossad.

Like Faktor, Maurice, too had been a member of the South African Habonim movement. He left Cape Town hurriedly in 1948 after listening attentively on the radio that the National Party had won the election. “I’m outer here,” he told his girlfriend and left the country. He enters the Entebbe story with the exit of one of the fateful passengers of the hi-jacked Air France Flight 139, Dora Bloch, a dual Israeli-British citizen. Dora, who had taken ill on the plane and was sent to a hospital in Kampala was hence not rescued with the other hostages during Israel’s Operation Entebbe. She then was reported missing from the hospital, which led to Britain cutting diplomatic ties with Uganda. Her body was discovered in 1979 in a sugar plantation near the capital.

Maurice filled me in on the gaps.

**State Sanctioned Murder**. Dora Bloch in 1971. In February 2007, declassified British government documents confirmed that she had been murdered by Ugandan authorities on Amin’s orders.

“The day after Idi Amin was overthrown in Uganda, I was contacted by the Mossad. The next day I was on a plane to Nairobi and from there to Kampala where the new president of Uganda was keeping the remains in a bank vault, the safest place he could think of. What happened was that the day Idi Amin fell, a disheveled man presented himself at the gate of the British Embassy asking to speak to the Ambassador. They took him to the guardroom and he said, “I am the man who buried Dora Bloch.” He revealed that after he buried her, he knew he would be killed off by Amin if he did not disappear. So, he raced to his home village near the Kenyan border and stayed there until Amin was overthrown. Examining the body, Maurice identified her remains from her dentures.

**“The Butcher”**. A smiling President Idi Amin visits the hostages at Entebbe Airport, whereafter, following the successful Israeli rescue said “Israel should be condemned in the strongest possible terms for this aggression,” and took his revenge by murdering of one of its passengers left behind, the elderly Dora Bloch. (Photo: AP)

“I found the initials of her Tel Aviv dentist on her dentures. She was prepared for burial and transported to Israel.” Dora Bloch was given an Israeli state funeral buried in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchot Cemetery.

In the immediate aftermath of the rescue mission, the government of Uganda convened a session of the UN Security Council to seek official condemnation of Israel for violating Ugandan sovereignty. The Security Council ultimately declined to pass any resolution on the matter. The words of Israel’s ambassador to the UN at the time, Chaim Herzog:

“We are proud not only because we have saved the lives of over a hundred innocent people – men, women and children – but because of the significance of our act for the cause of human freedom.”

Does his address to the Security Council resonates no less today as his son Isaac Herzog the 11^th president of the State of Israel has presided since October 7, 2023 over the worst atrocities perpetrated against the Jewish people since the Shoah?

In 1976, the terrorists at Entebbe – like the Nazis – separated the Jews from the other passengers and held them as hostages.

For the most part the world was indifferent.

**Ordeal Over**. Rescued passengers welcomed at Ben Gurion Airport.

In 2023, a new generation of terrorists took Jewish hostages, and the world was not only indifferent it embraced the terrorists wishing that Jews and the Jewish state would disappear as global antisemitism emerged like a wildfire out of control.

Here is the stark reality from the Israeli perspective:

The terrorists at Entebbe were all killed.

The terrorists on October 7 have for the most part been killed or are being killed.

And as for Israel?

Am Yisrael Chai.

*Feature picture: Escape from Entebbe. In July 6, 1976, the world learns a word – Entebbe.

While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves. LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

MOVING ON

Tribute to Israeli mobility artist Yaacov Agam globally celebrated as the father of the Kinetic Art movement.

By David E. Kaplan

Hearing of the sad passing of one of Israel’s most influential artists on the global stage brought back memories of my interview with him in 2018 at the then new Yaacov Agam Museum of Art (YAMA) in the city of his birth in Rishon LeZion. At the time, I was interviewing him as editor of Hilton Israel Magazine.

Before meeting with the artist, I ‘met’ his wife Clila – his late wife – without even realizing it, for from the moment you step onto the grounds of YAMA, one is engulfed into the rainbow world of the artist – surrounded by a sculpture garden of twenty multicolored pillars all dedicated to Clila. She remained so much part of his life, his world and his art.

**Poignant Pillars**. Typically sporting his inimitable hat and attired in multi-colored clothing, Agam engages with visitors to his museum in Rishon LeZion explaining to Rossie and Dr. Daniel Klug from Ra’anana, the symbolism of the striking pillars – dedicated to his late wife – at the entrance to his museum in Rishon LeZion. (Photo: David E. Kaplan)

Looking every inch an artist with long gray hair under a well-worn hat and a full beard, we sat down for over two hours of animated conversation. Abounding in energy despite being then 90-years-old – “I’m off to Paris in a few days’ time” – I came quickly to understand how this diminutive man was a giant in the art world, transforming city landscapes and people’s perspectives.

It was apparent from the answer to my first question that the interview would be as changeling as understanding the man’s art.

Constantly on the move – like his art – I began the interview with: “Where do you mostly live these days?”

“I live on my shoulders. As you can see, I am here now in Israel. Next week I will be in France. I live wherever I am AT THE MOMENT.”

**Jovially Geometric**. At the entrance to the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art (YAMA) in Rishon LeZion is a sculpture garden of twenty multicolored pillars all dedicated to the artist’s late wife, Clila.

The answer of “at the moment” incapsulated the character of the man, his art and the museum, which had welcomed me with the multicolored pillars that all changed as you walked by. The artist explained:

“Usually, when you see a painting in a museum, you stand in front, you look at it, and then you move on. With my work, you will never see everything at one movement. You have to keep moving. I want people who come to the museum to be able to see the paintings from every angle, so it’s also changing the way you look at it.”

The foremost pioneer of optical-Kinetic art, Agam encouraged spectator participation. When I revealed that I received a stiff rebuke when I stood too close to a painting in the Frick Gallery in New York, he replied:

“That will never happen here – I want people to physically connect with my art.”

It is little wonder why children love Agam’s art and why the artist honors children by appealing directly to them.

SPOT ON

The “Agam Method” for which the artist was awarded in 1996 the Jan Amos Comenius Medal for the non-verbal visual education of young children by UNESCO, teaches children to identify, analyze, and create with the visual building blocks that make up our world. Together, these building blocks – such as shapes, patterns, directions, and symmetry – form a universal “visual language”. The Agam Method has a long history of classroom implementation, research, and refinement dating back to the 1980s. Researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science led experimental studies to determine its impact on young children’s learning. Data from 1990 through to 2007 indicate that children who engaged with the method, improved significantly in early geometry and visual-spatial skills, including shape identification and deconstruction, visual acuity, and mental rotation of objects. Children also demonstrated significantly higher problem-solving and school readiness skills, particularly in the areas of writing and math.

“Do you have any grandchildren?” Agam asked.

“Two,” I replied at the time in 2018.

On happily hearing that both were aged in months rather than in years, he asked:

“If I gave them a pencil, what do think they will do with it.”

All my answers wrong, Agam demonstrates grabbing a pencil and thrusting up and down making points on the table.

“Points is the most primary act of creation and is born out in the first drawings found in prehistoric caves.”

“What about the line?” I asked.

“Now you are talking evolution – that came much later; could be 1000 years later or even 10,000 years. We do not know. The line is the most significant advancement in the history of evolution.”

Following my rudimentary lesson in the history of art, we jumped many millennia forward to Agam’s ‘Fire and Water Fountain” in Tel Aviv’s recently rejuvenated Dizengoff Square. After decades of public outcry, the iconic site frequently referred to as the “Times Square of Tel Aviv” – finally returned in 2018 to its original glory. Originally constructed in 1986, the kinetic fountain celebrates life as well as unity-in-diversity, an important feature of Tel Aviv’s ethos, considered one of the most free and tolerant cities in the world.

**Connecting Kinetically**. Agam’s kinetic sculpture ‘Fire and Water’ also referred to as the ‘Dizengoff Square Fountain’, is a landmark in the center of Dizengoff Square, Tel Aviv and is one of the artist’s most famous creations.

CAROUSEL OF COLOR

So, what was Agam’s response to the major transformation of Dizengoff Square which in the 1930s was the fashionable hub of the city but as the years passed, became seedy? Many blamed it on the square’s elevation above the street below and so what gave the Hebrew slang verb “l’hizdangef” (“to Dizengoff”), coined to describe strolling down the Tel Aviv’s iconic north-south artery, by the 1980s exposed not only a disconnect from vehicular traffic, but a disconnect from people.

Reinstalled back to street level, with traffic proceeding around rather than beneath, Tel Aviv center was restored to living up to its image of change.

Yaacov Agam at the Dizengoff Fountain – Tel Aviv, Israel

“What did you aim to express with your fountain at the very epicenter of Tel Aviv?” I asked.

“Firstly, the buildings surrounding the square are German – designed by architects fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s – and I wanted to brand the square distinctly Israeli with vibrant colors expressing life to contrast with the stark utilitarianism of the Bauhaus architecture. This I achieve with over 1000 colors visible through the water!

No other artist in the world has combined water and fire together. It was once said in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) during a tough debate:

“If Agam can make fire and water, what’s the problem?”

**Insights on Images**. The artist explaining the kinetic nature of his art.

Agam explains how the fountain comprises several big jagged wheels – colored geometric shapes, which are perceived as different images from different angles. A technological mechanism automatically activates at different times of the day and night that turns the wheels on their hinges, shooting fire and water upwards accompanied to music.

The artist’s vision is for people across the globe to be able to activate the fountain through an app. “I don’t want it simply like before; we have to move forward with technology – combining science and art making it globally accessible.”

As to why global interest was so important, Agan replied:

“Because the fountain’s message is universal. I believe it provides Dizengoff with gravitas; the miracle of fire and water with over 1000 colors, ‘reflects’ diversity. The fountain sends a message to the people of the world that although we are different, we are one.”

**Mesmerized by Movement**. visitors at the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art in Rishon LeZion on August 21, 2018. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

ON RELIGION AND REVELATION

To my question what influence his father, a rabbi, had on his art and life, Agan responded:

“My father was an orthodox rabbi and a Kabbalist; I am a visual rabbi and every work of mine is a visual prayer.”

Thinking this might explain why symbols like the rainbow are integral in the artist’s work, Agan continued:

“After the flood, God promised Noah never to destroy the earth again, and placed the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of that covenant. It is a visual prayer of peace, reminding that everyone is a party to the covenant to protect our environment.”

Showing me a painting of a rainbow, Agam continued:

“The rainbow is one of the loveliest sights in God’s creation as the colors stand out individually and yet merge with the color next to it, reflecting unity in diversity.”

“Does the visual trump words in our understanding of reality?” I asked, to which Agam replied:

“If the message of the rainbow was only in words, only those who understood the language would understand – some would understand, others would not. Words divide us, sight unites us. Children are born into a world of seeing before speaking. When they start to talk, that introduces separation and disunity. Seeing is so important that when God wanted us to understand him, he provided visions and so when the Torah was given on Mount Sinai, it is written that the People of Israel “SEE” not only hear the word of God.”

**Prize for a Pioneer**. Pioneering kinetic artist Yaacov Agam receiving the Israel Prize on April 20, 2026 at the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art, with museum director Ruthi Maccabbee. (Photo: Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)

Is it the same with the vision of the rainbow – the need to SEE rather than read of God’s communication with man?

“Yes; following the flood, it is written in Genesis that whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, “I will SEE it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” The problem today is that people do not know how to see; they rely too much on language to understand – and the soul of reality alludes them.”

THROUGH THE PRISM OF PRISON

While Agam trained at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem before moving to Zurich, Switzerland in 1949 where he continued his education at the Kunstgewerbe Schule, he revealed how “the unexpected” and “unplanned” was no less instructive in his education as an artist.

Who would have thought that such education included prison?

In 1946, Agam was imprisoned by the British in the Latrun detention camp after being arrested on suspicion of being a member of the Jewish underground. His detention occurred during Operation Agatha (often referred to as “Black Sabbath”), when British authorities conducted mass roundups to suppress Jewish insurgent movements in Mandatory Palestine. And who should he meet there other than Moshe Sharett who would later become Israel’s second Prime Minister. “He taught me Hebrew and grammar and he told me over and over that while there is a past and a future, there is no present in Jewish thinking. The present is fleeting; gone forever in a flash. Through our discussions, I formulated a perspective of time that is at the core of my art that is mobile; in a state of constant change – nothing is static. I met all the great artists at the time such as Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso and Jean Arp but they were all stuck in the past, and the past does not exist. I prefer to be in the state of becoming, like the true meaning of Shabbat (Sabbath) – resting to prepare for the coming week.”

I interrupted and suggested that Marcel Duchamp’s famous Nude Descending a Staircase (no 2) painted in 1912, is not static, that it captures the movement of a figure in descent.

“So why, one hundred years later, is she still descending the stairs?”

I had no answer!

**Leaders not Followers**. Both unique pioneers, Yaacov Agam (left) and Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali. (Photo courtesy of “Agam: Beyond the Visible” by Sayako Aragaki)

MOVING WITH THE TIMES

“Like Abraham leaving his father to create a nation,” Agam too felt he was creating “something new; a new way of thinking different to the other artists,” a far cry from the early 1950s then with his young wife in Paris “we literally starved and had to go to the Salvation Army for food.” In 1953, he had his first one-man show and sold his first panting to the famous surrealist artist Max Ernst.

When Robert Lebel (1901–1986), the famous French art critic and writer, “saw my work, he said, “We have a new prophet.”

He was not wrong.

Victor Vasarely, the Hungarian-French artist, widely accepted as a “grandfather” and leader of the op art movement, “told me you have no right make static work. Young artists, particularly from South America were attracted to my style and started to imitate me.”

In time, Agam’s art would attract the attention of President Pompidou of France. “When he was the Prime Minister, he went to see my show. I later received a call from the Secretary General of Artistic Creation who asked me, “What did you do to our PM. He stepped backwards and forwards in front of your painting; he could not understand it but was fascinated.”

**Alure of Agam**. In 1972, French president, George Pompidou commissioned a room in the palace to be decorated by Israeli artist, Yaacov Agam.

Later, when he became President, “he wanted a sculpture in his office and asked for a presentation of modern sculptures without the names of the artists. “I will decide,” he said. He chose mine because he could move it.” This led to a commission by the President of a moving salon environment at the Élysée Palace in 1972, where the environment shifted according to the viewer’s position. Enjoying tea with President Pompidou, “He revealed to me that he guided Queen Elizabeth through the salon and that she said she loved it.”

**Kaleidoscope of Color**. Detail of the Salon Agam at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France. (Photo courtesy of Groume via Flickr.)

Asked to make a work commemorating the peacemaking efforts of the president of Egypt, Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, Agam created in 1978 a mesmerising Star of Peace. A kinetic sculpture, it appears from one direction to be the five-pointed star of Islam, from another, the six-pointed Star of David, and from a third – a new star formed from their fusion.

Other public projects include a 1987 memorial at the Western Wall for the victims of the Holocaust, and the world’s largest menorah: a 32-foot, 4000-pound structure at Fifth Avenue and 59^th Street in Manhattan and based on the original menorah in Jerusalem’s Holly Temple, “not the fake version you see on the Arch of Titus in Rome.”

Concluding the interview, I ask:

Is there any one of your works you prize most?

“It’s impossible. My art is about movement and you can’t have all movement in one work of art. It’s like prayers in Judaism; there is no one prayer but many.”

Fair enough but is there at least one artist that influenced you the most?

“Yes, the Almighty!”

*Feature Picture: Yaacov Agam surrounded by his art at the Yaacov Museum of Art (YAMAT) in Rishio LeZion.

HOME AT LAST

In the final chapter of a national tragedy, some 700 personnel participated – including roughly 400 combat soldiers – in ‘Operation Brave Heart’ – bringing home the last hostage from Gaza.

By Jonathan Feldstein

Ran Gvili embodied heroism until his last moments. Despite awaiting shoulder surgery which had him on disability from his job as a police officer in Israel, immediately following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, he rushed to defend and protect others during the assault, saving numerous lives. He was killed in action, and his body was kidnapped along with 250 others into Gaza. Earlier this month, he became the last hostage to be brought out of Gaza after 843 excruciating days for his family, friends and the people of Israel. That he rushed into action immediately, he has been described as “the first in and the last out.” Yet his return, something that many in Israel thought might be an impossibility, underscored Israel’s unwavering commitment to the principle of leaving no one behind — whether living or fallen.

His repatriation, codenamed “Operation Brave Heart”, marked a symbolic closing of one of the darkest chapters in modern Israel that began on that brutal day. It was the end of a mission accepted by hundreds of thousands of Israeli soldiers, to free all the hostages: Israelis, foreign nationals from over two dozen countries, Jews and non-Jews alike.

The operation itself was a masterpiece of military precision and moral resolve. Colonel Golan Vach, commander of the IDF’s elite Pladot unit, led the effort. He is a seasoned combat veteran and search-and-rescue expert inside Israel, and leading Israel’s rescue operations following many international disasters ranging from Florida to Haiti, Nepal, the Philippines, Turkey, and more. Col. Vach was severely injured in a 2024 Gaza tunnel collapse. In a recent conversation, he describes his near-death experience as a personal miracle: buried under tons of earth, an excavator (operated by one of his own men) struck his helmet, but created an air pocket that saved him. He shared how while at the moment he thought he was going to die, but after being saved, he initially planned to retire. Then he returned to active duty and was called upon lead this mission.

**Military Masterpiece**. A seasoned combat veteran and search-and-rescue expert, Colonel Golan Vach, commander of the IDF’s elite Pladot unit, led the recovery mission.

Vach described the intelligence which eventually pinpointed Gvili’s body in an old cemetery in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City — an area with deep historical resonance. Locals there trace ancestry to the Mamluks, who defeated Christian forces centuries ago. Vach described how, for them, October 7 represented a twisted continuation of that triumph over both Jews and Christians, and an element of ongoing persecution of Christians in Gaza. Ironically, the cemetery had become a mass burial site for over 1,000 Hamas operatives and others since the war began, making the location seem improbable to find an Israeli hostage. He explains that it was likely chosen by terrorists deliberately, to ensure Gvili’s body would never be found.

Planning the operation spanned months. Earlier IDF combat operations had unknowingly operated atop the very site, destroying nearby terrorist infrastructure without realizing Gvili lay beneath. When fresh intelligence from a captured Islamic Jihad terrorist elevated the cemetery from lowest-probability to the sole viable lead, preparations intensified. The challenge was immense: locate one specific body among hundreds in layered graves, under hostile conditions. The general to whom Vach reported, referred to the operation as being a single bullet in the chamber: no other viable leads to find Gvili’s body, so it had to be a success.

Approximately 700 personnel participated, including roughly 400 combat soldiers providing multi-layered security for Vach’s team. During this time, four terrorists attempting an RPG attack were neutralized, underscoring that they were operating in a war zone where extra precautions needed to be taken. The Pladot unit —composed of highly experienced reservists skilled in “gentle” heavy machinery operations — excavated precisely mapped strips of the cemetery. Operators, trained to handle delicate urban demolitions and body recoveries without unnecessary destruction, worked methodically. After two days of careful digging amid Gaza’s punishing sun, Gvili’s remains were located early in the process —something many attributed to divine intervention, sparing the team prolonged exposure to decomposing bodies.

**Sacred Salvation**. Surrounding the body of Ran Gvilli, Israel fulfills a core tenet of its military doctrine and national ethos of “No one left behind” – a binding commitment to never abandon soldiers or citizens, whether alive or deceased, in enemy territory.

Identification occurred promptly via dental X-rays in a field setup with a team of dentists experienced in forensics. The moment of confirmation triggered a spontaneous and emotional gathering: hundreds of soldiers converged around the simple stretcher on which Gvili’s body lay, draped in the Israeli flag. Secular and religious soldiers alike sang the Hebrew song most known as a complete expression of faith, “Ani Ma’amin” (“I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah”) and other traditional songs, weeping, and embracing. The scene captured profound national catharsis — joy at fulfilling a sacred duty, grief for the cost, and affirmation of shared Jewish identity.

**Raised from the Rubble**. After a heroic recovery mission, comrades stand around honoring the remains of Col. Golan Vach, the last hostage to leave Gaza.

Before the return of Gvili’s body to Israel, the team respectfully reburied the several hundred Palestinian Arab bodies which had been exhumed. That was also part of the operation. The fact that they were reburied exactly where they had been disinterred showed the careful respect for the dead, even dead terrorists, and emphasized Jewish sanctity for human remains. Rabbis from the IDF’s search and rescue unit ensured sensitivity per Jewish law throughout. This reflected core IDF values:

cherishing life
upholding human dignity even toward adversaries, and
rejecting hatred as a motivating force.

Throughout the conversation, Vach and another IDF veteran, Shahak, referred to seeing God’s hand in many areas of this operation, and the war in general. They referred to many “coincidences” which were really Divine Appointments. In a fascinating and completely unscripted part of the conversation, Vach described how the honor of carrying Ran Gvili’s remains paralleled Moses and the Jewish people bringing Joseph’s remains out of Egypt, and the unique way in which God honored that.

**Homeward Bound**. The last photo taken at the conclusion of Operation Brave Heart as described by Col. Golan Vach. (Photo: Col. Golan Vach)

Shahak, a longtime combat veteran, described the moral rarity of endangering one’s soldiers to honor enemy dead, contrasting it with other militaries, noting bluntly that there is no army in the world that would do this. As a point person coordinating with Genesis 123 Foundation for providing support and encouragement for soldiers, he praised the enduring support from Christians worldwide as evidence that this is a shared struggle of Judeo-Christian civilization against darkness.

The conversation closed with reflections on resilience, faith, and unity. After 28 months of war, the recovery of Ron Gvili offered partial closure while reinforcing Israel’s resolve. As Colonel Vach shared the last photo taken at the end of the operation: the ruined landscape of Shuja’iyya behind Gvili’s flag-draped coffin symbolized the terrorists’ self-inflicted destruction — and the enduring light carried forward by those who risk everything to bring their brothers home.

Footage from the IDF’s brave mission to recover murdered hostage of Hamas Ran Gvili from Gaza.

Ran Gvili’s body was kidnapped on October 7 along with 250 others, dead and alive. His was the 250^th body to be checked until confirmation of his remains being recovered were made. Accordingly, it’s no “coincidence” that in Hebrew gematria, the numerical value of the letters that spell his name, Ran (רן), is precisely 250. It’s just another sign that even in the darkest times, God’s hand is ever-present.

About the writer:

Jonathan Feldstein - President of the US based non-profit Genesis123 Foundation whose mission is to build bridges between Jews and Christians – is a freelance writer whose articles appear in The Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Townhall, NorthJersey.com, Algemeiner Journal, The Jewish Press, major Christian websites and more.

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Follow the full conversation with Col. Vach and Shahak on the “Inspiration from Zion” podcast HERE.

BRAVE HEART

A fulfillment of a sacred vow – to bring them all home

By Rolene Marks

“Blessed are You, L-rd our G‑d, King of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us and enabled us to reach this occasion.”

There were times when we wondered if it would ever happen. Would they all be returned home? For 843 days, we all hoped, prayed, shook the heavens, and bargained with the Almighty and anyone in power. We were brought to our knees, pleading and breathed the fire of our relentless fight for our brothers and sisters. On 7 October, 251 men, women and children including whole families were taken hostage when Hamas infiltrated southern Israel, leaving a trail of atrocities in their wake. Since 2014, Hamas had held the remains of two soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul who fell during Operation Protective Edge. Two civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al Sayed, were also still captive. Hisham and Avera would be returned to the grateful embrace of their families during the ceasefire deal of January 2025 and the remains of Goldin and Shaul would be returned, months apart, for a dignified burial.

After 843 days, only one remained – Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili. He was as his superhero mother Talik said, the first one in and the last one out. For 843 days, Talik, Itzik, Shira and Omer fought for their son and brother Ran like the Maccabees themselves. With superhuman strength and a tenacity that is awe inspiring, they persevered with all their might until their beloved son, a hero of Israel was returned.

It is almost impossible to describe what we are feeling in Israel. In the last two years we have learnt that it is possible to walk alongside our grief, it is possible to carry both resilience and heartbreak and yesterday we discovered that our hearts can be both full and broken at the same time. We have learnt what it is to carry a profound love for people who we have never met and yet are our family, a part of our souls.

Our hearts are full that our brother, Ran, “the defender of Alumim” has returned to us – but broken that we are laying him to rest. The return of the last hostage may close a painful circle for us – but for their families, there is an aching wound that will never heal, a chasm that can never be filled and a longing that will never end. For the families of the hostages who are deceased, murdered by their captors, the loss will never lessen.

Several days ago, the IDF launched “Operation Brave Heart” to search for the remains of Ran (or Rani as he has become known in Israel) and bring him home. The search took them to a cemetery in northern Gaza and after searching through 250 graves, Ran was found. Speaking at his son’s funeral, Itzik Gvili revealed that not only was Rani whole – but that he had been found in the 250^th grave our warriors searched. In Hebrew, each letter is assigned a numerical value and Ran’s name was the equivalent of 250. It is impossible to not see that as a message from the Divine.

**Honoring a Hero**. Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir joins his troops in Gaza City for a ceremony honoring slain hostage Master Sgt. Ran Gvili after his body was recovered in Gaza City, on January 26, 2026. (Photo: IDF)

Hiding the bodies of hostages in graves demonstrates another level of Hamas’s depravity. Not content to use their civilian populations as human shields, the terror organization defiles their dead as well.

The soldiers of the Alexandroni Brigade were joined by 20 forensic dentists who meticulously searched through the remains until they found Ran. Gvili was identified through his fingerprints and was found still in the clothes he fought in on 7 October.

Operation Brave Heart was the most fitting name for the mission to recover this hero of Israel. In a tribute written by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Ran was described:

“Staff Sergeant Ran (Rani) Gvili from Meitar was a YASSAM Negev fighter in the Southern District of the Israel Police. Ran took great pride in being a police officer and wearing the blue uniform.

On the morning of the Black Saturday, Ran was at home recovering from a motorcycle accident and suffering from a fractured shoulder. Upon learning of the terrorist infiltration, he immediately put on his uniform and went out to assist his fellow unit members in the fighting. On his way, he encountered terrorists and fought with courage and determination on the front line at the entrance to Kibbutz Alumim. Members of the kibbutz community later gave him the name “Ran, the Defender of Alumim.”

**Hero’s Homecoming**. Israeli Police and IDF soldiers stand in line as they pay their respects at the funeral procession of St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili as he makes his way to his Negev hometown of Meitar.(Photo: Yossi Zeliger/TPS-IL)

The bravest heart is now home. He will be laid to rest with the dignity he so richly deserves. Kissing his son’s coffin, his father Itzik told him:

“We are proud of you, my son”.

Israelis lined the route of Ran’s final journey as the police escorted him with an honour guard that bore testimony to the love and brotherhood that Israel’s protectors and defenders have for each other. Laid to rest in Meitar, Ran can now have the peace he deserves. He is home.

Israelis have cried rivers of tears in the last 2 + years. We have had days that are more sorrowful than others, and some days that epitomize how we live with ha’dvash veha’oketz – the honey and the sting. The return of Rani was exactly that. It closes a painful circle. For the first time since 2014, there are no more hostages in Gaza. For the first time in 843 days, perhaps we can think about a day after 7 October. Israel has fulfilled a sacred vow – we leave no one behind.

The stop watch at Hostages Square that counted down the days, minutes and seconds has been switched off. The yellow pins, dog-tags and posters put away. Perhaps we can start to heal our broken hearts. I have a feeling they will never totally heal. How could they? October 7 was a seismic event that has changed Israel and the Jewish people forever – but we are a stubborn nation. We face forward and look at what we have learnt, how we will grow and what we can do to ensure another generation does not feel this pain again.

**Momentous Moment**. After 843 days, 12 hours, 5 minutes, and 59 seconds, the clock at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv stopped, a shofar was sounded, and many recited the Shehecheyanu blessing, giving thanks for reaching this moment. The mitzvah of redeeming captives – which Maimonides called the greatest commandment in Judaism – was fulfilled.

Ran Gvili is home. Alumim’s defender is home. The bravest heart can now rest in peace. They are all home. May the living hostages start to heal. May Ran’s and all the deceased hostages’ memories be an eternal blessing.

**Lion of Judah**. With a broken shoulder, Ran Gvili went into battle and fought like a lion in defending the lives of the residents of kibbutz Alumim (FB).

MAN ON THE RUN

From running marathons to running a top travel agency, Allan Wolman could also not get faster enough to Israel in 1967 to volunteer during the Six Day War.

A tribute by David E. Kaplan

It was with such surprise and sadness that we, at Lay of the Land heard the sad news that Allan Wolman, a contributor to our media platform over the years, had passed away on January 20, 2026. In our digital age where we engage less in person, we were unaware that he had been so ill in recent months.

My first thoughts that came to mind was how fit Allan had been having run three times in South Africa’s famed “Comrades”, one of the most grueling marathons in the world as well riding in the “Argus” (Cape Town’s equally famed international annual cycling race) an impressive eight times. All this we gleaned from his bio under his numerous articles.

What also came to mind to us at Lay of the Land was his article on his experiences as a volunteer to Israel in 1967, which we published in June 2022 on the 55^th anniversary of the Six Day War. As in October 2023 when Israel was attacked and faced multiple enemies on multiple fronts and its future was uncertain, so too was the situation in June 1967 – uncertain. However, for overseas volunteers like Allan in Johannesburg, there was no “uncertainty” where they needed to be:

“We needed to be in Israel.”

Having signed up as a volunteer at the Zionist Federation in Johannesburg, when war did break out on the 5^thJune, Allan relates he felt a sense of disappointment “as one group had already departed for Israel, and I was not part of it. With ears glued to the radio constantly, as well as almost camping at the Zionist Fed, the days ticked by until I received the call to be ready to leave that evening!

**Connecting at the Knesset**. Only a year after the new Knesset building in Jerusalem was dedicated on August 30, 1966 (background) and only days after Jerusalem was reunited and restored to Jewish sovereignty after 2000 years, volunteer Allan Wolman explores Israel’s reunited capital.

The excitement was overwhelming. I called my parents and next my dad arranged $300 – money that he could ill afford at the time – and rushed around to pack and get ready to leave.

Our SAA plane was a Boeing 707 that took about 250 passengers – all full of volunteers! The excitement at the departure hall was so memorable with proud Dad, tearful Mom and all my ‘envious’ friends who clubbed together and gave me $100 – a fortune in those days!”

For most of the group this was their first trip out of South Africa and it was to a country at war. Most people characteristically flee from wars but not these young Jews, mostly students, who put their lives – and for some their loves – on hold, to support the call of “our Jewish state in need.”

Allan recalls the excitement on the last leg of the flight to Israel from Athens on an El Al flight where on route they were joined by an Israeli fighter jet “to escort us in as the war was not yet over.”

MIDNIGHT AT DIZENGOFF

Allan’s first impression disembarking at then Lod Airport was of “a bunch of bearded rowdy looking soldiers looking fearsome. After the necessary arrival requirements, our group was bussed to a senior citizen’s home in Herzliya – by that time it was already dark, enhanced by the enforced blackout. I remember those first few hours so vividly – the residents of the home were clapping and cheering us. After an almost 24-hour flight and the excitement of landing in Israel, some of our group walked down to experience a swim in the Mediterranean and then – even with the war and the “blackout” – we hitched that evening a ride into Tel Aviv. Sometime before midnight, we arrived at Dizengoff Street –the only place we had heard of – when the cease-fire came into effect and the lights were turned on and the euphoria was simply indescribable. After six days of anxiety, the nation breathed a sigh of relief.”

**Relic of War**. Allan Wolman leaning back on a burnt-out Jordanian Jeep on a tour of the West Bank shortly after fighting ceased

With what Israel has been experiencing over the past two years since October 7 – of its reservists abroad returning home to fight and its civilians volunteering – it was interesting to ‘travel’ back to 1967 and see how the Jewish youth in the Diaspora responded to the unfolding crisis. Allan writes how the morning after their arrival, they were assigned to kibbutzim across the country “to assist with agricultural work as most of the men were still in the army.” Allan was assigned to kibbutz Kvutzat Schiller (Gan Shlomo) near Rehovot in central Israel and it felt “like landing on another planet.” Following orientation, “I was billeted in a room with three other young guys from England, two of which remained lifelong friends.” Of the fellow South Africans in his group, he writes of Raymond (“Rafi”) Lowenberg who remained in Israel, married, but was tragically killed on the first day of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. “I have hardly ever missed a memorial day in honour of Raymond – a brilliant guy; had his matric before he had a driver’s license and a degree at age nineteen.”

**Having a Field Day**. Fellow volunteers of the writer (including Raymond Lowenberg and Peter Edel) join a group of army Nachalniks in June 1967 working on kibbutz Kvutzat Schiller’s cotton plantation.

Allan records touring around Israel with his new friends most notably towards the Suez Canal not too long after the war ended “and witnessed the endless lines of destroyed Egyptian army trucks and tanks. We hiked through Gaza, and Gaza City was a dingy backward town with no building higher than two stories. Also hiked to El Arish, again a pretty backward little town. We never made it to the Canal but pretty close as it was a military security zone. Hiking back to Israel proper, Peter, Raymond, Alan and I were given a ride by an Arab Taxi who on route back, decided to turn off the road into an Arab refugee camp, which was a pretty hostile areas for Jews to venture in. Anxious and afraid of what lay ahead for us, we discussed in broken Afrikaans to knock the driver unconscious and take over his car to avoid the danger we feared lay ahead. Such bravado came to nought as the taxi stopped outside a house where his wife and children came out to collect fruit and vegetables he was delivering to his family. We felt ashamed for suspecting the worst.”

**Dig This**. Sitting on a destroyed Jordanian military earth-mover, are (left-right) volunteers Allan Wolman, Peter Edel and Raymond Lowenberg.

Again, what is reminiscent of the current war in so far as Israelis uniting for the return of all the hostages held in Gaza, and civilians across the country volunteering in their support for the soldiers, Allan’s recollections capture a similar mood in 1967 of national unity and support:

“What struck me was the coming together of everyone in support of each other. There was such unity. This was so visibly evident when traveling around the country and seeing at every town or settlement, refreshment tables set out by the women of the area preparing sandwiches and refreshments for the soldiers who were either leaving or joining their units as the army remained on full alert.”

Allan’s writing captures the elated atmosphere in Israel in the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War, describing that period:

“…as one of the most profound and memorable experiences of my life. Firstly, this was my very first trip overseas and, in a country, celebrating (with much relief) one of the most astounding military victories in modern warfare, the mood was one of exuberance and happiness after the anxiety leading up to the war. Most of the time was spent working various jobs on the Kibbutz from working in the chicken sheds shoveling chicken ‘shit’ to working in the various orchards and apple packing plant and weeding the cotton fields. You knew you had ‘made it’ – I am talking here serious ‘upward mobility’ – when you were trusted to drive a tractor. This was a status symbol; a far cry from the chicken coup!”

He records the “amazing” evenings as:

“a living metaphor of the sixties. We sat around our rooms drinking coffee and socializing with the girls; Raymond would be playing his guitar and we would listen mesmerised to the music and lyrics of the latest Beetles classic – “Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band”. For sure, we were anything but ‘lonely’; we all felt part of something great happening, so much bigger than ourselves.”

Allan concludes with “all good things must come to an end” and one morning “I came to the realization that if I didn’t get off the Kibbutz, I would remain there for the rest of my life,” so he packed his bags and said his goodbyes and left to spend a few weeks with his cousin Cyril Swiel in Tel Aviv. It proved “a real learning experience seeing the other side of life in Israel. I met up with some friends from South Africa and decided to travel through Europe and see the world.”

**Field of Dreams**. Having “lots of fun, laughter and discussing girls” says Allan Wolman (left) followed by Peter Edel and Raymond Lowenberg while picking apples in the orchids.

That zest to “see the world” would lead Allan towards the tourist industry where following his return to South Africa he would go on to run one of the oldest travel agencies in Johannesburg, Rosebank Travel and co-found the XL Travel Group. However, “seeing the world” could never quite match his “being in Israel” in 1967, an impact that sowed the seed for eventually, decades later in 2019, making Aliyah – settling in the Jewish state.

We will miss Allan’s writing, notably his exposure of hypocrisy. This was evident in his Lay of the Land article WHEN DOES LACK OF FOOD MORPH INTO LACK OF TRUTH, that took to task the global media that was“hellbent on shaming Israel in the midst of an existential war,” while “ignoringthe mega-million starving across the world.” He wrote, “If you didn’t know better, you’d think Gaza was the only place on earth where children go hungry. Just switch on CNN, Sky, or BBC – every night another solemn anchor, another indignant UN official, another weepy “expert” telling us what a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza. And yes, it is tragic. But if starvation is now characterised as the world’s ‘No. 1’ war crime, what about all the other famines the media doesn’t bother to cover?”

Exposing selective news coverage similar with what is happening today in the global media by ignoring the fate of the protestors in Iran, Allan wrote that when it came to Gaza, “suddenly every camera lens, every crocodile tear, and every moral sermon is locked in. The media’s appetite for images of starving children seems oddly selective – especially when it’s Israel in their crosshairs. We hear next to nothing about starvation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Somalia in the Horn of Africa,” or in his native South Africa “a country run by a government that shouts ‘a better life for all!’ while literally letting its children starve to death.”

Lives only matter “when it suits the script” wrote Allan.

Allan pulled no punches in telling it the way it is

We will miss that as we will miss him.

We, at Lay of the Land, extend our deepest condolences to wife Jocelyn, their three sons and their families.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

A tribute to Israeli entrepreneur, innovator, philanthropist and visionary Morris Kahn (1930-2026) who sought frontiers below and beyond.

By David E. Kaplan

I met Morris quite recently, shortly before he passed away on January 1, 2026 but it was as a hologram at the Peres Center for Peace and Technology in Tel Aviv-Yafo. Fascinated, I watched and listened to an animated life-size Morris sharing stories, ideas and how he achieved his goals in various fields of business, technology and science. If less than a month ago was the last time I saw Morris, the first time was in 1994, when I interviewed him in person, at his office in AMDOCS for Telfed Magazine, then a publication for the Southern African community in Israel.

The interview began with Morris saying that he never, on principle and embodied in policy gave interviews nor did he permit members of his vast staff from “talking to the press without permission.” His skepticism and suspicion of the media now with hindsight was quite visionary considering the situation today of ‘fake news’ and its consequences.

He continued with a broad smile that he was happily “making an exception” as he had such respect for Telfed and its publication in the service it provided for his fellow Southern Africans in Israel. Such respect was reciprocated not only by Israel’s Southern African community but all Israelis for a man who came to this country in the mid-1950s with little but gave so much to Israel and beyond.

I use the word “little” only in the material sense as he arrived with abundant talent and unbridled vision. Truly a kindred spirit of Simon Peres and seemed right that my last image of Morris was of him illuminating on ‘his world’ inside the Shimon Peres Center of Peace and Innovation. In the spirit of illumination, it was most fitting that Morris was given the honor in 2019 of lighting a candle at the national ceremony in Jerusalem on Israel’s Independence Day.

Best describing Morris were the words of another esteemed South African Israeli, the late Smoky Simon who as a co-honoree at a joint Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony said of his friend, who at the time was ten years his junior:

“You are a phenomenon. You have succeeded in capturing the mysterious and elusive formulae of how to successfully combine pleasure and relaxation with philanthropy, establishing social projects, promoting medical and scientific projects together with your business activities in one great package. Little wonder you have been honoured by the universities of Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bar Ilan, Ben Gurion and the Weizmann Institute, and now, just for good measure, you are involved in the international competition to assist Israel in being the first country to get a robot onto the moon.”

**Moonstruck**. Despite the disappointing news that the Israeli moon lander Beresheet crashed into the moon, benefactor Morris Khan (seen here next to Beresheet) stayed positive and was ready to try again. Afterall, it still reached the Moon even if “not the way we wanted,” and made Israel the fourth country to even reach it, following the United States, Soviet Union and China. (Photo: y Getty Images)

Morris, who hailed from Benoni in South Africa where he had been a member of the socialist Zionist youth movement Habonim, first visited Israel in 1955, and related of having discovered “a strange country, a foreign language, different food – but a feeling of being at home with my people.” It was enough for him to return the following year and to stay.

From starting out manufacturing bicycles at a factory in Beit Shemesh in partnership with kibbutz Tzora, Morris’ trajectory soared establishing companies that grew into commercial behemoths such as Golden Pages Israel, Amdocs with 26,000 employees worldwide, the Aurec Group and Coral World International, which established aquariums around the world from his first in 1978 in Israel’s Red Sea resort of Eilat and then in Maui, Hawaii, Perth, Australia; St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands; Coral Island Nassau, The Bahamas; Oceanworld in Manly, Australia, and elsewhere. The shared vision of Morris and world-renowned reef biologist David Fridman was based on the concept of a “revolutionary kind of aquarium,” an underwater observatory where visitors can enjoy close-up encounters with coral reefs and other aquatic forms of life in the Red Sea, “without getting wet.”

**Educating the Youth**. A young enthusiastic child at the Underwater Observatory in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, on July 25, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

The Red Sea Underwater Observatory, also known as Coral World Eilat was the first land-based, undersea tourist attraction and enjoyed immediate success paving the way for its replication elsewhere in the world.

**Sea’ing is Believing**. As Morris Kahn envisioned, Eilat’s underwater observatory where visitors can enjoy unique encounters with the Red Sea’s coral reef and aquatic forms of life, “*without getting wet*.”

Morris’ underwater venture began with a family adventure when he began scuba diving with his family in Eilat in the late 1960s and realized “that most people don’t get a chance to see the beautiful underwater world – the coral and the fish – because they don’t dive.” So, in 1972, he began the construction in Eilat of the Underwater Observatory and Marine Park, which since its opening in 1974 welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors per year. In 2014, the underwater observatory expanded by adding the biggest shark pool of its kind in the Middle East, which covers an area of 1000m² offering a rare opportunity for ‘close-encounters’ with the sharks of the Red Sea. When I last visited it, I overheard the stunned remark from a USA tourist next to me “Wow, this beats the shark pool at Las Vegas!” I was uncertain whether he was referring to card sharks or those with fins, but nevertheless the observation was spot-on.

**Morris on a Mission**. South Africa-born Israeli billionaire entrepreneur, Morris Kahn speaks during a press conference at the Israel Aerospace facility in Yehud on July 10, 2018. (Flash90)

Transitioning his GPS, Morris recalibrated his sights from below to above – from the deep depths of the earth’s sea to outer space and became a major sponsor and a public board member of Space IL, Israel’s nonprofit initiative to land an unmanned spacecraft on the Moon as part of the Google Lunar X Prize. “Landing a robot on the Moon is very complex but I enjoy being involved in the challenge,” explained Morris of his motivation. “I am a great believer in education and one of our goals at Space IL is getting the young generation excited and educated about science and space. We are trying to create the effect that Apollo had on the young generation in the U.S. I think it would be important for Israel to succeed in a competition like this. It would put Israel on the map in Space.”

**Aiming High**. Always aiming to entice the youth to take an interest in science, Morris Kahn unveils a lego model of SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft, during the opening of the Lego space park in Tel Aviv on July 25, 2019.

Addressing the local media before the launch, Morris said, “This mission that we were talking about was really a ‘mission impossible’. The only thing is, I didn’t think it was impossible, and the three engineers that started this project didn’t think it was impossible, and the way Israel thinks, nothing is impossible.”

Morris’ words of “nothing is impossible” nailed the Israeli narrative revealing why such a tiny country, one that at it geographical narrowest could be ridden in one of Morris early bicycles in less than a half-hour, could be the ‘Startup-Nation’ it is today. Morris was a major contributor to this status.

**Moon Men.** After the impressive aquarium at his office in Ramat Gan, the next thing to catch a visitors eyes eye is the photo of Morris (right) standing beside his good friend, the astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, immediately after his fellow Apollo 11 crew member, Neil Armstrong.

Making ‘Aliyah’ (immigrating) in 1956, Morris has sure lived up to the direct translation from the Hebrew of “ascending” or “to go up” – both metaphorically and physically. From bicycles in his early years to spacecrafts in his later years, Morris’ journey has been one of outreach from under the sea to outer space and everything in-between.

Morris Kahn leaves a legacy that will endure long into the future that he so embraced and enriched with his exploits and achievements.

LAST ONE OUT TURNS OFF THE DARKNESS

First to race into the inferno of October 7, Ran Gvili is now the last.

By Forest Rain Marcia

“Don’t worry Ma. See, my arm is fine!”

He knew his arm wasn’t fine. She knew it too.

They both knew there was no way he was staying home. Not after the videos he had seen, not after the emergency message he received, the message all policemen in the area received, the message they thought they would never hear: a call to respond to an invasion.

It didn’t matter that he had a broken shoulder and was scheduled for surgery in a few days. He was trained to defend the innocent, and nothing would stop him.

It was October 7th, and his country needed him.

Master Sergeant Ran Gvili of the Yasam Special Patrol Unit put on his uniform, took his father’s car, and drove to the police station. He met his team, donned battle gear, gathered weapons and ammunition, and drove straight into the eye of the storm: “The Al Aqsa Flood.”

The Last Israeli Hostage in Gaza: The Story of Ran Gvili | KAN 11

At the Saad junction, they found themselves in battle with the invaders. They helped party-goers escape the Nova massacre and reach safety. Ran was shot in the leg. He fashioned a tourniquet and battled on. At Alumim, he and other warriors managed to prevent the invaders from entering the kibbutz, saving those sheltering there — but at a terrible cost. The attackers had already slaughtered 22 workers from Thailand and Nepal and taken others hostage. Fourteen people fleeing the Nova party were murdered near the kibbutz, and five defenders of Israel were killed.

We think.

While learning through the news about friends and colleagues who had been killed, Ran’s brother, also a policeman, assumed Ran was home. After all, Ran was injured and scheduled for surgery.

When Ran’s phone rang, the battle was raging. His brother was shocked to hear him explain where he was and to learn that he had also been shot in the hand: “Don’t tell our parents. I’m shot, but I’m fine.”

Ran sent this selfie(below) on October 7th – his last photo.

Last selfie photo of Ran Gvili from the 7th October 2023

Separated from his team, with a broken shoulder and two gunshot wounds, Ran sheltered from the attackers and passed critical information to the relevant security forces, doing everything he could to bring help to the battle. When the invaders discovered his location, he fought them alone.

The bodies of fourteen terrorists were found at the point where he had been sheltering. Ran was gone.

It took more than fourteen to subdue him and take him to Gaza.

Intelligence officials discovered footage of his unconscious body being taken to Gaza. They informed the Gvili family that the injuries Ran sustained are not survivable — unless given emergency intensive care, which he did not receive. None of the liberated hostages saw him during their captivity.

No one knows for certain what happened to Ran. Until his body is returned, his family clings to the faint hope that this powerful warrior — their Rani —could somehow survive.

**Lion of Judah**. Despite the odds, Ran Gvili was an Israeli hero who ran into danger to save lives.

He was among the first to race toward the battle and is now the last who has yet to return home. His mother says Ran always made sure everyone else was ok before thinking of himself. It is like him to be last, to make sure everyone else goes first.

Hollywood has nothing on us. Our heroes are real.

I never met Ran, but I have met his mother, Talik Gvili, and seen her in action. She is a hero, a warrior of a different kind. It is no surprise that her son is a hero.

Since October 7th, Talik’s heart has ached for her Rani, but she has devoted her mind to defending our people. She has spoken in the Knesset and around the world, advocating for the release of all hostages through strength. Only victory over Hamas will protect us from future invasions. She says:

“I am the mother of a hostage. I do not want to be the grandmother of a hostage.”

One of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed was between Talik Gvili and Einav Zangauker, mother of Matan, who at the time was held hostage in Gaza. I was accompanying families of hostages to the Knesset, where, during committee sessions, families were given the chance to speak to parliament members and other government officials. Each family spoke in turn; all listened respectfully, no matter what was said or how long it took. Some pleaded with the government officials to save their loved ones. Others explained that they expected their loved ones to be saved in a way that didn’t endanger the future of Israel.

Einav Zangauker unleashed her fear and frustration at the committee head, haranguing him with devastating accusations:

“The blood of my son will be on your hands. They will bring him back dead, and you will manage the funeral and the shiva.”

There were some seventy people in the room. We all sat in silence. The more she spoke, the more extreme her words became, and the more everyone cringed, devastated, in their seats.

Until Talik spoke.

It was like magic. I don’t remember her exact words, but with grace and dignity, she broke the torrent of Einav’s rage, refocused her, and calmed her to the point where she got up, walked around the table, hugged Talik, and sat down next to her, holding her hand.

Allowing us all to breathe again.

**Cry Freedom**. With the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty in the background , the late Master Sergeant Ran Gwili mother appeals for his ‘liberty’ from Gaza.

Talik has rightly received awards and praise for her wise and eloquent advocacy. After one event, I approached her and told her I admired her greatly but needed to correct one huge mistake in her speech. Startled, she focused on me. I said, “You claim that you aren’t a hero, but that ignores what heroes are. They aren’t just warriors in battle; heroes are people who go above and beyond what the average person would do in the same situation.” She looked at me, unmoving. I continued, “When this happened, you could have crawled into bed, pulled the covers over your head, and refused to move. It would have been much easier.”

Her eyes softened. She sighed and nodded. “That’s true. Thank you.”

**Waiting for Ran**. Itzik Gvili, says of his son Ran, “He didn’t think twice, he went and fought, even with two bullets in his body.” Addressing a crowd at Hostages Square, he speaks about his son in the present tense. “It’s hard for me to accept condolences. Until I see his body, I don’t speak about him in the past tense.”

Hero. Mother of a hero. I wish I could give her a fraction of the strength she has given for all of us, for our safety, for our future. Now her Rani, one of the first to race into the inferno, is the last in Gaza.

We say that “the last one out turns off the light.” Perhaps Ran, the last one out, will be the one who turns off the darkness that has taken over Gaza.

Perhaps he won’t come home until we make sure the darkness is extinguished. There is a job that has yet to be completed. We are responsible for making sure that happens.

About the writer:

Forest Rain Marcia is an American-born Israeli who lives in northern Israel. She’s a branding expert and storyteller. Her passion is giving voice to the stories of Israel illuminating its profound events, cherished values, and exemplary role models that transcend borders, casting Israel as an eternal wellspring of inspiration and strength for a global audience.
Forest Rain made Aliyah at the age of thirteen. After her IDF service, she co-developed and co-directed a project to aid victims of terrorism and war. These activities gave her extensive first-hand experience with the emotional and psychological processes of civilians, soldiers, and their families, wounded and/or bereaved and traumatized by terrorism and war (grief, guilt, PTSD, etc). Throughout the years, she has continued to voice the stories, pain, and strength of traumatized Israelis to motivate others to provide support and counter the hate that threatens Jews in Israel, around the world, and Western civilization itself through the understanding that what begins with the Jews never ends with Jews.

Inspiration from Zion: https://inspirationfromzion.com/

THE ESSENCE OF HER NAME

In loving memory of Tova Ben Dov

By Rolene Marks
Tribute

If anyone was the absolute embodiment of her name, it was Tova Ben Dov. Tova, as her name suggests, was goodness personified. With twinkling blue eyes and the familiar sound of “Bubbeleh” greeting all who she was fond of, Tova brought her unique charm, wisdom and humour to all who knew her.

I will never forget the first time I met Tova. I joined a cohort of WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) women at the World Zionist Congress and saw how this slender, twinkly-eyed lady wielded tremendous power and respect and how when she spoke, she commanded the room.

Assigning herself as my “ima Israelit” (Israeli mother), Tova was a pillar of support and a gentle guide to help navigate the travails of Aliyah. I looked so forward to our chats where she would share anecdotes and always looked for the silver linings, even though these past years that have been so difficult for all of us. Tova never missed a beat – she knew what was happening in our communities around the world and stood strong in her identity, always encouraging pride in who we are and the imperative of standing up to the hate.

With wisdom, humour and patience, Tova was a mentor to so many, including WIZO women. Creating leaders and education was important to Tova; and from Melbourne, to Malmo, we were guided, encouraged and mentored by her.

Tova was more than just Honorary Life President of WIZO – she was the beating heart of the movement. Tova poured her heart into everything that she did and it shows in her legacy and the love that so many have for her.

Tova was born in Tel Aviv to parents from a Zionist family that was one of the founders of the Jewish state. For six decades, she devoted herself to WIZO.

Starting her career as a volunteer at the Herzliya Pituach branch, she became a respected leader on the national and international stage.

Working her way up the WIZO ladder, she held several leadership positions, including President of World WIZO from 2012 to 2016. She also served as vice president of the World Jewish Congress, a member of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Israel and a member of the International Council of Women.

Among other things, Ben-Dov founded the Open House in Sderot, named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, as well as the first secure daycare center in the southern Israeli city. During her tenure, WIZO won the Israel Prize in 2008 for its contribution to advancing the status of women and gender equality.

Among Ben-Dov’s notable accomplishments within WIZO was the establishment of the Margaret Thatcher Open House in Sderot (above) which provides professional treatment, therapy and support programs to thousands of children and families in a city whose residents are traumatized by war.

In 2011, Tova was honoured with the Yakir Tel Aviv-Yafo award in recognition of her dedication to the well-being of the city, and in 2016, she was awarded the title of honorary fellow of the World Zionist Congress.

These are incredible achievements and are testament to a lifetime of service to her country.

Her greatest pride and joy has always been her family and her siblings, three children, seven grandchildren and a great-granddaughter, survive her. Tova was laid to rest in the Kiryat Shaul cemetery.

Her passing leaves a gaping hole in the lives of so many. May we all live up to the example that she set. Tova by name – and by nature. Goodness personified. May her memory be eternally blessed.

FROM PLONSK TO A NATION

Tracing Ben Gurion’s roots from small town in central Poland to forging a nation.

By Motti Verses

This coming October 16 will mark another birthday of a leader whose wisdom we could certainly use in today’s roller-coaster reality. Born back in the 19^th century in 1886, he is sadly no longer with us. While most people, myself included, tend to honor his memory by visiting his grave in Sde Boker, this time I decided to pay tribute in a different way: by tracing David Ben Gurion’s roots in Poland.

On our way back from Gdańsk to Warsaw Chopin Airport, we turned off the highway to a small, easily overlooked town: Płońsk, 70k/ms north of Warsaw. Israel’s founding prime minister was born here, and I was determined to find the house where he first saw the light of day. Thanks to modern technology, the task was surprisingly easy. Without it, it would have been nearly impossible, as there are no road signs directing visitors there.

It was a moving visit. The oval-shaped old town plaza is tiny, ringed with homes of bygone eras. Among them stood a turquoise-colored building that, according to images on my phone, matched the one I was seeking. Once a restaurant, now closed, it bears a “For Rent” sign in the window. Perhaps this is a golden opportunity for a Jewish investor to acquire the property and give it a purpose worthy of its history. A modest black plaque announces that David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding prime minister, was born here.

**Food for Thought**. From the outside, a visitor would know that this small turquoise building had once been a restaurant but could be excused for not knowing that long before had been the childhood home of one of the most iconic nation-builders of the 20^th century – David Ben Gurion.(Photo: Motti Verses)

Back then, he was still David Grün, growing up in a modest Jewish household. At the time, Płońsk was part of the Russian Empire (today, Poland) and had a vibrant Jewish community that made up roughly half its population. His father, Avigdor Grün, was a teacher and an active member of the Ḥovevei Zion (“Lovers of Zion”) movement, which inspired young David with the ideals of Jewish national revival.

As a teenager, Ben-Gurion joined Poale Zion, a socialist-Zionist youth group, and even began teaching Hebrew to local children. Life in Płońsk’s close-knit shtetl, shared with both Jews and Poles, shaped his worldview: he saw the necessity of Jewish self-reliance while also recognizing the challenges of coexistence. In 1906, at the age of 19, he emigrated to Eretz Israel and the rest, as they say, is history.

**Płońsk to Palestine**. David Ben-Gurion (bottom center) in white shirt at a gathering of “Poalei Tzion” (Jewish worker youth movement) in Płońsk before his emigration to Eretz Israel/Palestine in 1906 still under the rule of the Ottoman Turks. In the back row, right of the flag, stands his father, Avigdor Grün. (Photo: Ben-Gurion Archives)

Today, Płońsk commemorates him with various educational initiatives. The Płońsk Memorial House (Dom Pamięci w Płońsku) tells the story of his youth and of the once-thriving Jewish community. Located just across the narrow street from the turquoise house, it is dedicated to the intertwined history of Polish and Jewish residents who lived together in Płońsk for nearly five centuries. The museum is housed in a restored early 20th-century two-story brick building that once served as both a pharmacy and a residence. The project reflects a broader goal: to preserve the shared memory of both communities, foster intercultural dialogue, and honor the legacy for visiting descendants of Płońsk’s Jews as well as tourists interested in the town’s history and its connection to David Ben-Gurion.

**Sign of the Times**. A modest black plaque informs that Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion was born in this house.(Photo: Motti Verses)

What struck me most was a remarkable mural on one of the nearby building walls. This vibrant graffiti artwork tells the story of Israel and Ben-Gurion. It was created by the multifaceted Polish artist Bruno Neuhamer (also known as Bruno Althamer), a draftsman, illustrator, sculptor, and street artist. The mural was unveiled on October 26, 2021, during the Jewish Culture Festival in Płońsk. The project was realized in cooperation with the city authorities, the local cultural center, and the Israeli Embassy in Poland.

**Mural of Memories**. Located on a wall of a tenement house at 6 Warszawska Street in Płońsk, Bruno Neuhamer’s mural tells the story of Israel and the life of Ben-Gurion, including the legendary image of the Prime Minister standing on his head which he did from childhood in Płońsk to old age in Israel, including on Tel Aviv beach. (Photo: Motti Verses)

The central image shows Ben-Gurion balancing on his head, inspired by a 1957 photograph by Paul Goldman, preserved at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. According to historical accounts, young Ben-Gurion often fainted, and his doctor prescribed headstands as a remedy. A habit he maintained well into later life. Beyond the literal image, the pose – as I saw it – carries a deeper metaphor: to achieve something great, one sometimes must turn the world upside down.

**“HISTORY IS NOT WRITEN, HISTORY IS MADE”**. This is the last line in the Murial’s inscription on the life of Ben Gurion that appears in Polish, English and Hebrew. (Photo: Motti Verses)

In Ben-Gurion’s case, this is the story of a boy from Płońsk who did just that, ultimately founding a nation. The mural is filled with details: exotic plants, tanks with raised barrels, adding layers of meaning. At first, the tanks seemed out of place, yet in today’s reality, Neuhamer’s choice feels prophetic. The mural left me thoughtful, even melancholic, about Israel’s present and image in the world.

**Early Life**. One of the exhibits relating to David Ben Gurion in the Płońsk Memorial House. (Photo: Motti Verses)

As an Israeli visiting Płońsk, I felt a mix of emotions. Walking the same streets that young David once knew was like touching the roots of modern Israel’s story. It was a reminder that a boy from here turned the world upside down to create a nation. There was a strong echo of resilience, dreams, and lives stretching from Poland to Israel, along with sadness for the absence of the once-vibrant Jewish community, erased by the Holocaust. The silence where synagogues, schools, and children’s laughter once filled the air was palpable. And yet, there was also warmth: many Polish young people today take pride in commemorating their town’s connection to Israel. Płońsk still holds a living link to the Jewish people. An encouraging reality in our times.

**Past Preserved**. Across the street from Ben Gurion’s childhood home is the entrance to Płońsk Memorial House. (Photo: Motti Verses)

It was pleasantly cool in Płońsk this August. In winter, average temperatures here hover around 0 °C (32°F). My thoughts drifted to young David’s reality, and to the stark contrast of his later life in the Middle East-especially during the sweltering hot days of the Negev desert in Sde Boker. Quite a change, and quite a challenge.

You don’t need more than an hour to see Płońsk; everything is small and close together. But if you’re in the area, make the stop – it will certainly be worth it.

It will also be both enlightening and rewarding to see how from this small town emerged a giant of the 20^th century that defied insurmountable obstacles and challenges to forge a nation on their ancestral land that today hosts the largest core Jewish population in the world, with 7.2 million, followed by the United States with 6.3 million.

The man who did headstands knew where and when to stand where and when it mattered!

*Feature picture: Birth of a Nation. The writer stands in front of Ben-Gurion’s childhood home in Płońsk, Poland. (Photo: Motti Verses)

About the writer:

The writer, Motti Verses, is a Travel Flash Tips publisher. His travel stories are published on THE TIMES OF ISRAEL https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/motti-verses/. And his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPSAnd his hospitality analysis reviews on THE JERUSALEM POST, are available on his Linkedin page LinkedIn Israelhttps://il.linkedin.com › motti-verse…Motti Verses – Publisher and Chief Editor – TRAVEL FLASH TIPS.

OF MARKETS AND MINDSETS

Farewell to Stef Wertheimer – a feisty ‘warrior’ for peace and prosperity who has died at age 98.

By David E. Kaplan

I was privileged to interview Stef Wertheimer in 2010 as editor then of the Hilton Israel Magazine. As Israel’s leading industrialist and second largest metalworking tool manufacturer in the world, Stef had been under the international spotlight since 2006 when Warren Buffet’s, Berkshire Hathaway acquired 80% of his company ISCAR Metalworking for a staggering four billion US dollars, the largest then ever buy-out of an Israeli company. Not only was it a resounding vote of confidence in the Israeli economy but also a break in the mindset of Israel being mainly a market Mecca for hi-tech investors. Industry was instantly up there in the vanguard of the pack – its stature restored.

**Man on a Mission**. Stef Wertheimer – a visionary and a warrior for peace and prosperity.

I naturally felt that this should be the main focus of the interview but how radically off base I was. As we began casually chatting, Stef made it clear that he did not want to talk about the Buffet deal, saying dismissively:

“that’s only about money.”

Seeing my obvious surprise, he explained, “money can cloud what is really important. The real significance of the deal did not happen in 2006 but in 1952.”

What did he mean?

Public fascination, he explained, falsely gravitates to the Buffet deal because of the staggering sum, but “this is not the true barometer of success. To tell you the truth, my first deal operating out of my kitchen in Nahariya was far more significant and therefore more meaningful to me.”

Son of a musician and decorated First World War veteran, Stef Wertheimer was born in Kikenheim, Germany in 1926. In 1936, with the Nazis entrenched in power, the Wertheimer family fled Germany for Palestine. “I was 10 years old, so they did not ask me,” he says, chuckling.

**Rearing to Go**. Always striving high, the refugee child from southern Baden, Germany, Stef Wertheimer as a teenager in Tel Aviv.

Learning a trade as an apprentice to a refugee, Stef, at age eighteen, joined the newly established Israel Air force flight school. Although he graduated as a pilot, the army was far more interested in “my skills in metal processing.” Given the important task of developing weapons, no one in those days would have imagined that young Stef was well on his way to becoming a global industrialist and ‘warrior’ for peace.

When the state of Israel came into being and the battles ended, he started his cutting-tool factory from his home in Nahariya with a borrowed lathe and a loan from a local butcher.

He tells the story:

“Living in Nahariya, I used to ride my motorbike to kibbutz Hanita where I paid for the use of a machine. I then decided in 1952 to work at home and started with small blade sharpener which cost forty lirot. My ‘factory floor’ was the balcony off our kitchen. I called my business ISCAR. Family and employees shared the same premises and as the business expanded, I ‘invaded’ the bedroom and shifted the beds into the corridor. My baby daughter used to ride her tricycle taking bites of food from my workers. That is how she grew to enjoy spicy cuisine from my Mizrahi (Jews of Middle Eastern ancestry) workers.”

**Factory Floor**. A young highly motivated Stef Wertheimer (center) in his backyard Iscar workshop in Nahariya in the early 1950s. (Photo: private)

Deflecting any discussion “about money,” Stef steers the interview to that which he is most proud of – his unofficial title as the ‘Father of Israel’s industrial parks’. Promoting nothing less than a new ‘Industrial Revolution’ for the Middle East, Stef’s vision was about transforming the industrial and political landscape of Israel and beyond. “A successful society is a skilled society,” he asserted.

Stef went on to establish seven industrial parks in Israel, with the goal of fostering economic growth and job creation to help “create stability in the region.”

**Aiming High**. The ISCAR World Headquarters and Central Manufacturing Facilities located in Tefen in the high hills of Israel.

His first, built in 1982, set the tone encompassing everything from transportation to cultural and educational facilities. Establishing them specifically in peripheral areas, these complexes of export-oriented factories generated annual sales of $2.7 billion and provided employment to its surrounding areas. Stef’s attitude was clear:

“There is no unemployed, only people who are unlucky to find a job.”

A visionary for regional peace, he posed the question: “Imagine if there were hundreds of these “Pockets of Peace” all over the Middle East? Who would have the time or the interest for war? People would be too busy creating instead of destroying.”

In response to my question whether he was proposing mass industrialization as a tool for regional harmony, he replied:

“Yes, if people are highly skilled, earning good salaries and enjoying job satisfaction, then there will be no urge for individuals or nation states to resort to violence to achieve their aspirations. Religious fanatics only flourish where poverty and despair rule. However, to achieve an industrial revolution, we need a revolution in our educational system as well. For too long we have been obsessed with professional degrees, steering our children towards becoming bankers, doctors or lawyers. We have been short-sighted with little thought as to how our small country can absorb these professions. When we award too many degrees with no jobs to support them, we create an export market of our finest commodity – our talented youth. The sad result is that Jewish and Arab families, who both cherish close family ties, are reduced to talking to their loved ones over Skype [Before the age of WhatsApp] instead of over the kitchen table. We should train our youth for jobs that will keep them here in Israel.”

And to the question whether this would not require a change of mindset towards technical education, Stef replied:

“Sure; we prefer to pursue the ‘clean’ professions because we are pressured by our parents. This has been embedded into our culture. We have an aversion to rolling up our sleeves and getting our fingers dirty. Jews gravitate to commerce and the professions rather than into industry. This needs to change.”

Questioning how we break from tradition if it’s so imbedded in our culture, he replied:

“One needs to look no further for a shining example than one of our revered Zionist pioneers, A.D. Gordon. Was he suited to work in the fields? Definitely not. He was an elderly intellectual, of no great physical strength and with no experience doing manual labor, but he took up the hoe and worked in the fields. By personal example, he provided the inspiration for generations of Zionist pioneers to create a Jewish economy by physically working the land. He showed how manual labor – so essential to the creation of the state – was honorable and enriching work.

Today, we need the same insight and spirit of A.D. Gordon to move new generations not to the fields but to our factory floors. In the same way that tilling the land in early days was considered honorable, today we need to correct the erroneous notion that manual labor is ‘low’. Nations with the most dynamic economies such as China, India, Singapore, Switzerland, Denmark and France have introduced a dual system of technical education that combines classroom learning with on-sight internships in various industries. We need to do the same.”

**Book of Revelations**. Says Warren Buffett, “There’s no better way to explain the miracle of Israel than to examine the life of Stef Wertheimer.”

Having such bold visions, it was only natural for Stef to try out politics which he did in 1977 when he was amongst the founding members of Dash, (Democratic Movement for Change) a new centrist political party. The party was highly successful, winning 15 seats in the 1977 elections, with Wertheimer taking one of the seats. The party was a combination of capitalists and socialists, doves and hawks that aimed to bring about a transformation in Israeli politics, especially by introducing a constitution and changing the voting system. The goal was to break the deadlock induced by ideologically oriented parties and to separate religion and state. The party split in 1978, and Wertheimer joined the liberal, free-market party Shinui. However, by 1982, now exasperated with politics – more faking than making – he resigned and returned to his business ventures.

Did he have any regrets for not persevering longer in politics, I asked.

“No regrets; I found the routine of politics dominated by too many lawyer-types who spend endless amounts of time clashing over budgets and how to spend rather than generate money.

However, the experience was not a waste as it paved the way for me to create the Industrial Parks and what I call, ‘Islands of Peace.’ As a member of the Knesset Economic Committee, I was asked to help several small companies that were experiencing financial problems. How could I prevent them from closing down? I came up with the idea that each company on its own could not survive, but if they were placed together and shared the same facilities, infrastructure, and access to top business guidance, they would have a better chance of survival. To this end, I brought in experts from Harvard University and MIT. A sum of $120 million was allocated for this project and supported by the Minister of Finance, Pinchas Saphir.”

However, all did not proceed according to plan, politics being what it is. Of the $120 million, $100 million found its way to the financially troubled but politically more attractive and larger companies, while Stef was allocated $20 million to focus on the smaller companies.

“Was this not disillusioning?” I asked.

“I was only too happy,” Stef replied. “Let them waste money on decaying behemoths… I will focus on the small companies, with young people who have the passion and the vision to forge ahead.’ History records what was wasted with the $100 million and what was achieved with the $20 million.”

**Movers & Shakers**. Stef Wertheimer showing Warren Buffett (left) around Tefen in northern Israel. (Photo by FLASH90).

With the seed money, Stef established in 1982 – the year after he left the Knesset – Tefen Industrial Park in the northern Galilee. At the time of the interview in 2010, Stef was currently developing his seventh park, located in Nazareth. “Although it will be managed by Arabs it will be a place where Jews and Arabs will work together. It will be a model for coexistence, where people of different cultures and religions will work with rather than against each other. The battlefield today should only be the market place.”

One can only sigh acknowledging Stef’s farsighted perspective amidst Israel’s current war.

Officially opening the Industrial High-Tech Park in Nazareth is President Shimon Peres with Stef Wertheimer (right) who said, “This industrial park is a model and a real investment in the local economy and Jewish-Arab coexistence. It will create jobs in this area and will help keep the young people of the area, from all sectors of society, here.” (Photo: Government Press Office)

Based on the large-scale economic program for Europe following World War II, Stef had promoted a similar Marshall Plan for the Middle East. His idea was to set up industries on a mass scale to provide training, create jobs, alleviate poverty and raise the per capita income of those living in the region. “People don’t know this,” said Stef, “but the money the government spends on ONE fighter plane could pay for FIVE industrial parks. Think of it – which offers a better return on investment?”

In pursuance of his vision, Stef drew up plans in the 1990s for an industrial park in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian and the Israeli governments both offered support, but one week before the groundbreaking ceremony, the Second Intifada broke out and that plan was indefinitely shelved. Decades later, instead of industrial parks, it’s the city where Israeli hostages were held and where the mastermind of the October 7 massacre Yahya Sinwar was killed on the 17 October, 2024.

As Stef Wertheimer leaves us, he also leaves us with his vision to be still pursued and achieved :

“The battlefield today should be only the market place of tomorrow.”

Category: A Special Breed

50 YEARS SINCE ENTEBBE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION

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MOVING ON

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HOME AT LAST

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BRAVE HEART

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MAN ON THE RUN

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OUT OF THIS WORLD

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LAST ONE OUT TURNS OFF THE DARKNESS

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THE ESSENCE OF HER NAME

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FROM PLONSK TO A NATION

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OF MARKETS AND MINDSETS

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