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Richard J. Annen
Director, Center for Conflict Resolution Strategies

Confessions of a civilian volunteer with the Israel Defense Force

Part 1 of a 3-Part Series

INTRODUCTION
Amidst the Galilee War in 1982, Golan Heights communities in Israel faced potential crop loss due to manpower shortages caused by call up of army reservists for duty. Dr. Aharon Davidi, a former head of the IDF, but then Director of Community and Cultural Activities, acted to address this crisis by sending friends to the U.S. to recruit help, leading to 650 volunteers who arrived to save the crops. Their success led to the founding of Sar-El, a non-profit service organization, in 1983. Sar-El is the Hebrew acronym meaning “Service to Israel.”

Figure 1 Official Logo of Sar-El Used With Permission

Today, Sar-El’s mission is to recruit volunteers to work alongside soldiers of the IDF in non-combat roles on military bases throughout Israel. The need for such volunteers has never been greater than it is today.

REALIZING THE NEED TO SERVE
I was 7 or 8 years old when during a family dinner my dad talked about his service in the US Navy during WW II. He left the table and returned with a box of his war memorabilia – a Japanese battle flag, a Japanese Zero fighter plane forged out of bullets, a set of the official US Navy photos of the Japanese signing of the surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri, and to photos of piles of bodies on the ground and in box cars. That was my introduction to what I would come to learn was the Holocaust. I began crying and said to my dad: “Is that going to happen to me?” My dad immediately put away the memorabilia and thereafter never talked of the war again. I found his memorabilia after his death in 2006, but those pictures were gone.
As I grew up, I developed a passion for American history and the wars we fought, which largely serve to define us as Americans. I learned about the treatment of the Jews during WW II and Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower’s promise to never let the world forget the horror of the Nazi concentration camps and the murder of millions of Jews. But it was not until after October 7, 2023, that I came to understand how utterly superficial my understanding and appreciation of the Jewish/Israeli experience was. I read about the periodic terrorist attacks, suicide bombings, Black September, and the short wars Israel fought, but never took the time to understand the context of those events, let alone gaining a historical understanding as to why they were occurring. In sum, I believe that like most Americans, I essentially had no understanding as to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (the “Conflict”) in either a macro or micro-sense. Hamas’ barbarous attack on October 7, 2023, awoke me from my state of gross naivety.
I soon realized that I was now a witness to a potentially second Holocaust. My shock led to confusion as anti-Israel protests and anti-sematic rhetoric surged across US college campuses, with the support of not only college students, teachers, and administrators, but members of the US Congress and mainstream US media. I could no longer live in my “cocoon” of detached, passive ignorance. I knew I needed to take some action, to be on the right side of history to prevent another Holocaust.

Figure 2 Created by Richard Annen

BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE
Using research and writing skills I had developed as a litigation/trial/appellate attorney for over 40 years, I decided to write and publish a paper to provide an understanding of the underpinnings of the “anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas” demonstrations on American college campuses. As I was researching what would become almost a 100-page paper, it quickly became clear that the 75-year history of the Conflict since Israel’s founding in 1948, was caught in a cycle of increasing violence, which began with nation states (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon) warring with Israel, who then abandoned and turned over the Palestinian people to terrorist organizations to carry on the fight. First, the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1968, and then Hamas in 1987, who violently ousted the PLO and took full control of Gaza in 2007. Thereafter, the cycle continued with Hamas initiated attack/incident, an Israeli response, and then a “cease-fire” negotiated by external actors to the Conflict.

But, Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack was materially different. Hamas invaded Israel and engaged in a brutal and barbarous slaughter and kidnapping of over 250 Israeli civilians. Israel’s stated determination to eliminate Hamas was met with an international demand for a ceasefire, leaving Hamas in control of Gaza, in complete disregard of the fact that another ceasefire will only lead to a more deadly and violent “October 7” in the future. That is when my epiphany occurred. The historical and current facts revealed that for the first time in the 75-year history of the Conflict, it could be ended.

My focus shifted and 3 months later the result was my paper “Blueprint for an Imposed Peace to End the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (the “Blueprint”), the cornerstones of which include formation of an Alliance of nations to act as the Governing Council of a newly formed demilitarized Palestinian state, which after of period of formation of governing, education, and social institutions and deradicalization of the population, self-governance is achieved, while remaining a Protectorate of the Alliance. (See an excerpt of the Blueprint in my Times of Israel Blog post on May 24, 2024, and subsequent posts on May 28 and 31, 2024, and June 7, 2024, or read the entire paper at www.centerforconflictresolutionstrategies.com.) The finding and implementation of a solution to the Conflict will directly affect the quality and trajectory of the lives of over 5 million Palestinians and the quality of life for over 9 million Israelis. As one might say, “From billions wasted, to millions saved.”

FINDING SAR-EL – “Volunteers Save Lives”
While my Blueprint presented a unique, never before presented structure for a 2-state solution (which, even with the broadening of the Conflict to more directly include Iran, Hezbollah, Houthis and affiliated terrorist groups, remains a viable solution), I quickly found that unless you are somebody with connections, it was problematic to get the Blueprint read by even those who profess an interest in resolving the Conflict, including US, Israeli, and Egyptian ambassadors, EU diplomat Josep Borrell, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Crown Prince of Bahrain, King Hussain of Jordan, Islamic Fatwa Council, the Anti-Defamation League, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the Vandenberg Coalition, JINSA, Douglas Murray, Israel Defense Ministry, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Benny Gantz, every major US newspaper, and others. In May 2024, with the help of Danny Zarek with the Times of Israel, I was able to post an excerpt of the Blueprint on the TOI Blog. As my frustration grew, so did my perseverance. While I continued to pursue trying to get the Blueprint “into the right hands,” I knew I wanted to do more. I began looking for volunteer opportunities in Israel, and that is when I found Sar-El.

After completing necessary paperwork and interviews, this 72-year-old Catholic male from San Diego made ready for 3 weeks of service with the IDF in June 2024.
While going through El Al security for my flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, I was questioned by security personnel as to why I wanted to go to Israel. After 10 minutes of questioning and behind the counter phone calls, I pulled from my backpack a copy of the Blueprint and said: “I wrote this, but I want to do more.” A young security officer looked at it and said: “You wrote this?” As the questioning continued, my cellphone rang. It was another El Al representative calling to advise me that I could proceed to board the plane.

AM YISRAEL CHAI

“The People of Israel Live”I did the first draft of this article while sitting in the Arrivals Hall at Ben Gurion Airport, two hours before beginning my service with the IDF. Having arrived a few days earlier and staying in Tel Aviv, I was immediately surprised and impressed with the vibrance of Tel Aviv, with streets, restaurants, and beaches filled with people. One would have no idea that a war is waging a 100km to the south or rockets are falling a 120km to the north. The people of Israel have truly adapted and prospered despite living under a constant threat of and periodic attacks and surrounded by those who seek their destruction.

Figure 3 Created by Richard Annen

ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES EMBLEM
I hope by serving the IDF, I can show the people of Israel and others I meet that America and Americans support Israel and the images of those who appear not too are in the extreme minority. They are the “useful idiots” of a well-entrenched Hamas propaganda machine that Americans did not know even existed and had infiltrated the highest echelons of the American educational system and mainstream media.

I firmly believe that had the free world united with Israel after October 7, 2923, to show Hamas (and its affiliates) that it has no hope to survive and govern the Palestinian people ever again, the war I am entering on the periphery, would look much different today. But, in the meantime, thank you Sar-El and the IDF for allowing me the heart-felt honor of serving Israel and giving me the opportunity to directly contribute to my mission to promote the Blueprint for Peace.

In Part 2 of this series, I will detail my volunteer experience with the IDF and time in Israel.

Shalom

About the Author
Richard J. Annen is the Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution Strategies (CCRS) located in San Diego, California. CCRS's mission is to analyze real world human conflicts, crisis, and problems and develop detailed, fact-based, implementable resolution strategies. Prior to establishing CCRS, Mr. Annen was a board-certified trial attorney specializing in business litigation. Mr. Annen received his Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Notre Dame.
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