By Donald H. Harrison and Sandi Masori
DEL MAR, California — Shahar Azani, a former spokesman for the Israeli consulate-general in New York City, said the deaths of four soldiers killed at a Golani Brigade base near Binyamina, Israel, and another 60 people injured on Sunday, Oct. 13, in a drone attack by Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group, are the direct result of Iran’s arms. He called on the United States to help Israel militarily against Iran, not only for Israel’s sake but for that of the free world.
Azani was interviewed on video (above) by San Diego Jewish World prior to an “All in for Israel” fundraiser sponsored by the Jewish National Fund-USA at which he was the featured speaker. The hour-long program in the paddock area of the Del Mar Racetrack also featured speeches by luminaries of the local JNF chapter including its president Jacqui Schneider, secretary Myra Chack Fleischer, board members Bill Rosenbaum, Mia Babson Goldklang, and Shari Schenk. Also present, but not speakers on the program, were Lauren and Sol Lizerbram, former national president of JNF-USA and now chairman of its national board of directors.
Rabbi David Kornberg of Congregation Beth Am offered a prayer for Israel; singer Shani Zamir opened and closed the program with Hebrew and English songs, including the American and Israeli National Anthems; a video from Sha’ar Hanegev was shown on three large screens, and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria presented a proclamation declaring Sunday, Oct. 13, to be Jewish National Fund-USA Day in San Diego.
Gloria spoke about his friendship with the slain Sha’ar Hanegev Mayor Ophir Libstein, who died defending Kibbutz Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, the day of Simcha Torah, when Hamas fighters massacred between 1,100 and 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 as hostages. Gloria pledged continued friendship for Sha’ar Hanegev, San Diego’s sister city in Israel that includes the Kfar Aza kibbutz. He also promised protection for San Diego’s own Jewish community against antisemitic outrages.
In his speech to the “All in for Israel” gathering, Azani said that those killed and those taken hostage on Oct. 7 were not just statistics but were people, whose stories and life’s accomplishments deserve to be remembered. He spoke of a schoolgirl who called 9-1-1 during the attack, saying she hoped to attend her classes the following day. Instead, she was brutally murdered, Azani recounted.
Israel has a long memory, he added. When terrorists murdered Israel’s Olympic athletes in Munich, Germany, in 1972, it took a while but the terrorists responsible were tracked down and eliminated.
He also recalled Amiram Cooper, a poet who was slain by Hamas after a long captivity. Cooper was a founder of Kibbutz Nir Oz in Sha’ar Hanegev and the father of San Diego County resident Rotem Cooper.
Azani said Israeli teenagers disproved the older generation who labeled them “screamagers” with little or no feelings of patriotism. He said after Oct. 7, that generation rushed to the battlefields in the Middle East, and they stood against anti-Israel propaganda on campuses in the United States and other countries.
He said he wondered why if the anti-Israel demonstrators are so proud of their support for the murderous Hamas, why do they wear masks? Shouldn’t they let the public see who they are?
He said Israel’s war in Gaza and in Lebanon will free the people in both locations from the tyranny of Hamas and Hezbollah.
In Hebrew, the yetzer hara is the bad instinct, which is opposite of the yetzer hatov, the good instinct. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, abbreviated UNRWA, is often pronounced “un-ra,” which Azani quipped that to Israelis it means “the bad U.N,” so often do its members vote against Israel.
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World. Sandi Masori, SDJW’s theater reviewer, shot the video.