1-armed hero speaks at 5 Towns FIDF dinner

Over 400 supporters came to show respect and admiration for representatives of the Israel Defense Forces at the 2nd annual dinner of the Long Island chapter of Friends of the IDF last Wednesday at Sephardic Temple in Cedarhurst. The dinner raised $300,000.

As the master of ceremonies, Five Towner and noted criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman stated that everyone came to “honor the old, the young and the in between.”

“The Five Towns produces some of Israel’s best fighters,” hr said.

Ira Feinberg, of the original members of Machal from 1948, was profiled in a brief video. “I was able to participate in the first army in 2000 years to say ‘never again’ — long live the Jewish people,” said Feinberg.

Gloria Schreiber, one of the original Sarel volunteers, who do stints of maintenance work on Israeli army bases, and Feinberg stood to be acknowledged by thunderous applause as the audience rose to their feet.

The FIDF provides services to soldiers, including those who come without their families. It insures they have food for the holidays, free flights and a visit of 30 days each year to their families, counseling, gyms, dental benefits as well as other services.

One of the speakers representing Givati was Sergeant Daniel Orvomaa, a lone soldier originally from Helsinki, Finland.

IDF veteran Sgt. Izzy Ezagui also spoke of his experiences. Ezagui was born in Brooklyn and visited Israel through Birthright in 2006. The following year, the family moved to Israel and Ezagui enlisted in the army.

“I knew that Israel is my home,” he told the Jewish Star.

“My Hebrew was awful when I started,” he recalled. He said that he was given “extra punishments [laps and push-ups] if I didn’t understand instructions.” He was in the Givati brigade, stationed near the Gaza Strip, responsible for fighting terrorism in the area.

After nine and a half months of training, he was sent to the southern border with operation Cast Lead. A mortar fired from Gaza wounded many of his comrades and tore off his left and dominant arm. He woke up in the hospital, “reeling with pain,” but said that either chutzpa or determination drawn from within motivated him to pursue his goal of returning to combat. “My mom told me recently that the first thing I said when I woke up—and I don’t even remember this—was, ‘you know I have to go back, right?’ It was from the very beginning, not something I decided. It was just there.”

His request was turned down by many officers and politicians who visited him, but he persisted.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s General of Southern Command finally allowed him to pursue his goal of reentering a combat unit — provided he could pass physical endurance and military skills tests. He learned how to un-jam an assault rifle, climb a rope, even cut his nails, open a water bottle, tie his shoes and use a hand grenade one-handed “by force and determination.” His base commander, the Givati weapons officer, a Krav Maga instructor and others assisted him in his retraining and provided “love and support,” he said.

Ezagui was the first soldier with his type of injury to complete commander training. He opted not to get a prosthetic arm since he said that he works well without it, learning to accomplish what he needs to do with one arm. He noted that as a commander, his soldiers didn’t treat him differently, not even acknowledging his missing arm.

He is currently living in Florida, returning to Israel for reserve duty, and relating his experiences as a motivational speaker. He has also written a book about his experiences, “Single Handed.”