Sydney chapter of Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal tours the Ramat David airbase, learns about issues facing the IAF
Date: 14/06/2012, 2:03 PM
Author: Daniel Temkin
A delegation of the Sydney, Australia, chapter of Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal (KH-UIA) visited the Israel Air Force's Ramat David base on Wednesday (June 13) for an informational tour.
The visit to Ramat David included sessions on the threats facing Israel and the steps the IAF takes to defend Israel while preventing harm to civilians.
Participants also witnessed the take-off of an IAF airplane.
Trip participant Jerry Adler told the IDF Website that he had previously visited Ramat David, which he described as "an inspirational place to be, to see such youth with such focus and dedication to keeping Israel a safe place."
"The commitment and the youthfulness and the importance of the units are extraordinary," Adler said of the IAF. "The missions are always critical. They're always in support of either ground troops or thwarting a potential enemy attack."
The delegation included 26 activists, donors, and supporters of KH-UIA from Australia and South Africa who are currently touring Israel. Their trip began with a visit to the Jewish community of Ethiopia, followed by a flight to Israel - on which participants traveled together with a group of Ethiopian Jews as they immigrated to Israel.
"Our goal is to show them Israel, to connect them to Israel, to show them Israel's challenges, and to show them everything that Israel is," said Fentahun Assefa-Dawit, a representative of the Sydney chapter of KH-UIA who is leading the trip. He added that the trip is designed to show Israel to the participants "accurately - not [to treat them as] vacationers who come to visit tourist attractions, but to connect them with Israeli people, including these people who work so hard to build and advance the State of Israel."