Doron Almog: “We need to guarantee that this state, this only Jewish state, will not only survive and prevail against [foreign, military] threats, but also a split society.”
Incoming Jewish Agency Chairman Doron Almog spoke in an Israeli-American podcast about his upcoming role. In an exclusive interview, Almog sat down with powerbroker oleh (new immigrant) Justin Hayet on his podcast, Thirty-Six.
Almog spoke about the two commitments, or “lives” as he calls them, that defined his professional and personal life. One is the army; the other is being an active advocate for the disabled in Israel through his establishment of the ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran organization in honor of his son. He ends by pondering his vision for his next “life” as the next chairman of the Jewish Agency with the accompanying commitment to building Jewish unity.
“My life is dedicated to the disabled like my son Eran, and maybe now I am taking [on] a ‘third commitment’ – to strengthen the Jewish people by becoming chairman of the Jewish Agency,” he said, adding that he is “starting another Jewish journey to unite our people and to always remember that we have one Jewish state, like our parents said.
“We need to guarantee that this state, this only Jewish state, will not only survive and prevail against a threat from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, missiles, [foreign] military, attacks and war, but also a split society.”
“We need to guarantee that this state, this only Jewish state, will not only survive and prevail against a threat from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, missiles, [foreign] military, attacks and war, but also a split society.”
Doron Almog
Almog told Hayet that “we need to unite our people and we do not have the privilege to lose one segment [of it]. We need to unite all of us: The Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, traditional, secular – [all] together: to be united, one people – a strong people – in order to guarantee our existence by this unity.”
His interview will be released tomorrow on Apple podcasts and Spotify (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thirty-six/id1595118172)
Almog was selected as the new chairman of the Jewish Agency last week after the 93-year-old organization went a year without a permanent leader. Yaakov Hagoel was serving as acting chairman after Isaac Herzog left to become Israel’s current president.
The 71-year-old retired IDF general is the founder and chairman of ADI Negev Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village (formerly ALEH Negev Nahalat Eran), which provides residential, medical and social services to the disabled. He previously served as head of the IDF’s Southern Command, and was in charge of securing the border with the Gaza Strip.
In 2005, Almog landed in London but was warned not to deplane after Israel learned that British police were waiting to arrest him based on a warrant issued over his previous command of IDF troops in the Gaza Strip. He stayed on the plane and returned to Israel. The village he founded was named in memory of his late son, Eran.