- Aharon Davidi
Aharon Davidi (born 1927) is an
Israel igeneral and has founded theSar-El volunteer program of the IDF .He was born in Israel in as son of a Ukrainian immigrant family. From the age of fifteen, he served with the
Haganah andPalmach . In theIsraeli War of Independence (1948) he fought in the southern front with theNegev Brigade where he met his future wife Hassida.In 1953 Davidi volunteered for the new IDF
paratrooper s as a company commander. In the following year the unit was very active in retaliatory operations and other dangerous missions behind enemy lines. Davidi and his company supported Ariel Sharon’sUnit 101 in the raid onQibya and they have remained close friends ever since. He was decorated for actions in the Gaza strip in 1955. In theSinai Campaign , Davidi, now Lieutenant-Colonel and regimental commander, played a decisive role in the battle ofMitla Pass . From 1965 to 1968 he, now colonel, was the first commander of the IDF Paratrooper and Infantry Corps. During the 1967Six Day War , Davidi commanded the decisive actions to captureSharm-el-Sheik . When Raful Eitan was wounded in action, his paratroopers were led by Davidi to theSuez Canal . In 1970 he retired asBrigadier from active military service and went for three years toUniversity of London to earn his Masters and Ph.D. degrees, focused on the cultural problems of Chinese minorities. Davidi started to teach geography atTel Aviv University in 1974. Three years later he moved to theGolan Heights as Director of Community and Cultural Activities of the Golan and Jordan Valley. In the summer of 1982, during the Lebanon war, Davidi founded theSar-El IDF volunteer program.Davidi now lives in
Ramat Gan and has three children, eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
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