Toronto – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to Canada was cut short by a diplomatic crisis in the seas off Gaza, but his visit will always be remembered by a B.C. man who hitched a free ride home.
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A few weeks ago, Jonathan Fader from Richmond was overseas serving in the Israeli infantry. He hadn’t seen his family in more than a year.
But that all changed after a chance encounter with the Israeli head of state, who Fader met at a military exercise. During a short chat in Hebrew, Netanyahu noted Fader’s Canadian accent, and asked where he was from.
The prime minister had already scheduled a visit to Canada and the U.S., and offered to let Fader hitch a ride on his private jet.
“The whole thing is a bit hazy because it was in Hebrew, and my Hebrew isn’t so good,” Fader said. “But it turned out well for me, apparently.”
Netanyahu even recognized Fader at a pro-Israel rally in Toronto on Sunday. “I said Jonathan, you are on lucky soldier because I’d like to take you on our plane, so you have a chance to see your family,” he said.
The trip on Netanyahu’s private jet, the equivalent of Air Force One, even made a one day stop-over in Paris so the prime minister could sign the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development agreement.
“I basically wandered around, I’d never been to Paris. I went to the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe,” Fader said.
Now that he’s back, Fader says his first priority is food – starting with a non-kosher meat pizza. “They are very hard to get in Israel,” he said.
His family met him at the airport, where his mother Joan said she is thrilled he son is back so she can spoil him for the week.
“It’s just like serendipity. Jonathan was just in the right place at the right time, nothing was planned. It was just like it was meant to be,” she said.
This is a really nice story, aside from the part about the pizza, but he is just a kid so spare us all the usual “gevalts” about eating treifus.
His first priority is a “non-kosher meat pizza.” That’s why he’s risking his life to serve in the IDF. Real nachas.
Lucky him!!!
At least they are “very hard to get in Israel”
This is disgusting. To have such type of people defending the jewish people makes me sick. Don’t think for a second that Hashem gets any nachas from him. Don’t fool yourselves. I did the army too. Also as a chayal boded and when I came back in the middle to see mu parents I ate pizza at a kosher pizza shop.
Two points re the video
1 -“The Universe” gave it to him – he speaks like an atheist, but he has enough Ahavas Yisroel to serve in the IDF!
2 -Does Canada also have an Air Force One, or are they referring to the U.S.A.?
is he religous??
So many judges, there’s only one judge, thank God we don’t have to do that job.
Israeli PR at its finest .
This guy chose to risk his life daily in order to protect fellow Jews, and all you can focus on is his dietary preference? Priorities, man, priorities!
He is more of a yid than most of the comment writers – his risks his loife for fellow yidden whether theuy dress and think loike hiom or not.
you see at first I thought that the point of the story was that the soilder got to fly with the prime minister. Now I know the story was meant to show that at least we know its still hard to buy Treif in Israel!
It was starting out to be a happy story until I read that bit about the treif pizza! I lost my appetite!
i don’t even think he’s jewish. now it makes sense.
While it is admirable that Fader risked his life to serve in the IDF, everyone here who commented in the negative regarding his eating treif has a right to do that. This is a site geared for fum Jews.
Now maybe more frum people should serve in the army, however serving in the army is not an excuse for eating treif or doing other aveiros. It is keeping the Torah that bestows Hashem’s protection on our nation and gives us the right to live in that land.
About Jews standing together with our enemies and protesting against Israel is a seperate issue. Maybe it is even worse than eating treif because to sin bein adam lchaviero is worse than sinning against Hashem, however it is still a seperate issue. Two wrongs do not make one right.
Serving in the IDF makes not one a tzaddik who has a heter to trample on God’s commandments.
Fro here we see that a yiddishe neshomeh – who as a tinok shenishbo is currently so far from toireh and mitzvos that the opposite of kosher is considered a positive in his life – is still so heilig and strong and connected to his fellow jew and to the eibershter that he is willing to go on mesirus nefesh just to protect a fellow jew.
The reason for this is because he is a chelek elokah mima’al – mamash and therefore no matter what his circumstances in life, no matter where he is and no matter what he does, he is and will always be connected to the eibershter.
The eibersheter should help that this should also be seen by him be’gilui in all other aspects of his life especially as they relate to toireh and mitzvos.
I couldn’t care less whether he follows Torah or not.
He is a Jew defending other Jews.
He is a Canadian who picked up and left Canada to be with and help other Jews.
That’s 100% more than the frumniks who would dare to criticize him would ever do.
And all you can do is criticize him? What a bunch of losers.
I certainly would rather be in his shoes than yours when its comes to answering to HaShem.
Why is everyone going crazy over the treif pizza? This guy was in the army. All the food he’s eaten for the past three years has been treif.
Its amazing after watching the videos of the Israeli commandos boarding the ships last night and beaten any yid in their ight mind would even comment about treife pizza. WHO CARES??? This bochur and thousands of others like him in the IDF has more yichus than a thousand lazy bochurim scared to death of going into the army and sitting around unemployed and learning in Kollel and fressing on pizza with chassideshe hashgacha
How does Canada and the USA allow its citizens to serve in the armed forces of another country? Isn’t that grounds for losing one’s citizenship? Is that law no longer enforced? Kindly explain?
Those of you who judge his frumkeit are right . He is not worthy to protect your lives. Instead they should empty out the Chareidi yeshivos and draft them into the army since only they are worthy to protect other jews lives. Why should only chilonim put their lives at risk for people who don’t even appreciate their sacrifice?Chilonim have jewish mothers too!
My point was that those who are sitting in a comfortable,safe,(maybe air condtioned) beis medrash learning Torah , having a coffee, calling the wife every once in a while, chapping a shmooze with the next guy for a few minutes during seder,never being put in harms way, and thinking you are G-d’s gift , and holier than thou because you are protecting the world and that you are a sheiner yid and a bessereh mensch, You are all full of Gaaivah if you have the chutzpa to think that this gives you the right to judge a chiloni tinok shenishba, someone who lays his life on the line when necessary,sometimes daily, someone who sacrifices sleep, undergoing long schedules, deprivation of his comfort, being away from his wife and family,someone with a jewish mother just like you.It’s this gaaiva that people see in frum people always judging others that gives frumkeit a bad name in people’s eyes and causes a chillul Hashem. How many americans fled the israeli yeshivos during the gulf war (because they could get out of the country} instead of being moser nefesh to stay and learn so that the country could be protected by their Torah?Actions speak louder than words.