Both Adam Harmon and Daniel Flesch have one thing in common. They’ve both served in the IDF – the Israel Defense Forces.
“I wanted to ensure that the Jewish people had a place to go if they were ever in trouble,” says former IDF soldier Daniel Flesch.
They are known as lone soldiers – volunteers from all over the world who join the IDF, often in combat units, but who do not have family inside the Jewish State.
After graduating from the University of Illinois, Flesch enlisted in the Paratroopers brigade. He served from December 2010 through June 2012.
Hailing from New Hampshire, Harmon began his service in 1990 as Israel was fighting a Palestinian uprising and a burgeoning Hezbollah. He was asked to continue serving on and off in a reserve unit for another eight years.
“No matter what job you had in that moment, you walk away feeling like I’ve saved some lives today, I’ve done some good,” says Harmon. “And for me, those were the motivating factors to not only serve and do what I could but actually to volunteer for combat units.”
Officials at Israel’s embassy here in Washington, D.C. say there about 6,000 lone soldiers in the IDF today. About a third of those are from the United States, but sizable contingents are from other countries, as well.
“Most lone soldiers who go are Jewish, but many are not,” says Heidi Krizer Daroff, North American Director of Israel Forever. “Many of them just believe that Israel should be a safe-haven for Jews – that the Jewish people are entitled to one homeland. And they want to go and do their part to protect and defend it.”
Three American lone soldiers have been killed this summer in the ongoing battle between Israel and Hamas – 24-year-old Los Angeles native, Max Steinberg, and 21-year-old Texan, Nissim Sean Carmeli. Most recently, 21-year-old David Gordon was killed not far from his based in Central Israel.
Tributes were paid to each of them at memorial services both in the United States and in Israel.