(Day 697) Swords of Iron – “Iraqi Jewish Pioneer”

Chaim starts by introducing Eli Salman, an Iraqi Jewish man who was 7 years old when he made Aliyah with his family in 1950, and is now 82 years old.

He tells some stories (in Hebrew while Chaim translates for the camera) about his family, who were pioneers and helped establish the new State of Israel. But first, in Iraq, some of them were put in prison for expressing support for Zionism. Then after the Independence War of 1948, all the Jews in Iraq were kicked out of the country, and many of them came to the newly born State of Israel.

His family settled in the city of Jerusalem, and he fought with his IDF unit to liberate the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Six-Day War. Later, he fought in the Sinai in the 1973 Yom Kippur War and later he fought again in the First Lebanon War.

Aside from his service in the IDF, he held several positions in civil society. He ran a youth center and worked at the Wingage Institute for Sports Education and other places.

In 1991, he decided to do something different, starting a tour bus company where he transported people around, teaching them things about Israel. He was especially good at transporting and teaching combat soldiers in the IDF, and he wanted to always be with these elite commandos because they were like the people he worked with during his own IDF career and working with the Mossad.

Chaim says he was one of those soldiers who got transported on Eli’s bus and that happened in 2005. That was the beginning of a friendship between the two that has lasted until today. He has made similar friendships with many other soldiers along the way, but he is no longer able to drive the bus because he is legally blind.

Chaim tells him he’s a hero of Israel and asks him if he ever considered giving up, leaving Israel and going to live somewhere else.

Eli says no, he never considered that option, although it’s very difficult in Israel for all kinds of reasons and he has options to leave and live somewhere else. He still wants to be a blessing here, and in fact, the reason he is with Chaim at the time the video was made is because he was dropping off a gift for him.

Chaim concludes by imploring his viewers to learn from the example of this man, what it means to give and serve one’s country because “freedom isn’t free.”