David Ben-Uziel, known by the nickname of Tarzan, is an 85-year old military tour guide and a glorified military man.
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Why Tarzan, you might ask. Well, when Ben-Uziel was 14 years old, he saved a friend from drowning by swinging on a rope over the river, just like the character in Edgar Rice Burroughs' adventure novels.
Throughout his life, Ben-Uziel was destined to accomplish many more exceptional achievements.
"I was 12 years old when the War of Independence broke out [in 1948]," he told Israel Hayom. That was a completely different way of maturing than that of my children and grandchildren. In 1947 all schools and youth movements were closed, and every counselor over the age of 16 was recruited [into the army.] As a 12-year old what was I to do? Do nothing? So I joined the youth military company of the Irgun [the underground paramilitary organization movement fighting the British.] We were trained to use 10 different kinds of pistols, five types of explosives, fuses, detonators, hand grenades, Lee–Enfields, and Sten guns.
"I had to do things like load the soldiers' magazines and barricade buildings. The commander would say, 'Here are the sandbags, fill more bags with gravel and barricade this building, because it can be bombarded with shells from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood [in Jerusalem.'] That night Jerusalem saw one of the harshest shellings. We filled the bags, barricated the building, the windows, heard the shells from Sheik Jarrah, estimated the time of the attack, lay down on the floor, and when the explosion was over, got back to filling more bags.
"Towards the morning, the shells began to explode right next to us. Luckily, we could enter a round building [for protection.] A part of it had already been destroyed by a shell, but we had no time to worry. We were given a task. We varricated the building while being shelled. Is there anything more sacred than that?"
Q: Were you not scared?
"No. I've always been daring like that. We were told to go around and stick proclamation posters [around the city]. I and another member stuck posters on the building of the British police while they sat inside with machine guns. Yet we did it anyway. I never hid. I told myself that the responsibility for the security of our country rested on our shoulders."
Q: We can say then that this time of your life shaped you.
"Yes. When my grandchildren ask me today, 'Grandpa, what should we seek?', I tell them that they should develop their own personality and not be part of the herd. Everyone gets the same haircuts today. Everyone seems to look the same. Do they have a personality? Is there a spark in their eyes? What about curiosity? It saddens me if that's not the case."
During the War of Independence in 1948, Ben-Uziel served in Commando Unit 101, a special forces unit of the IDF that was founded and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.
"We were different [than other IDF units] because our commander knew what he wanted to achieve, and he wanted to achieve it. Arik [Ariel Sharon] sat us down in the camp, in civilian clothes, and said, 'I demand action, no excuses.'
"For Arik, if you didn't carry out the mission, you had to go to the same village the next night and carry it out. Nothing but force majeure could get you out of performing the task you were assigned. In other words: Arik showed us what it meant to be a real commander and a true leader.
"And what is true leadership? The person on top affects the entire system. The moment he becomes corrupt, the system becomes corrupt too. His subordinates are affected. He can no longer criticize them as he has forfeited his moral authority. Every leader is meant to be an inspiration."
Q: Army service today is very different from what you are describing.
"If I were serving in the IDF now, I would encourage initiative. I wouldn't limit officers with my orders. The moment that happens, they stop thinking for themselves and only do what they are old."
Ben-Uziel is an avid traveler. Ten years ago, at the age of 75, he traveled the paths that Saint Paul, the apostle who spread the teachings of Jesus, took during his lifetime. On another trip, at age 70, he traveled the 1934 journey made by Chinese leader Mao Zedong and his Communist followers.
"We walked more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) on foot. We wanted to understand the essence of leadership: how do you retreat with tens of thousands of your soldiers, leave your wounded behind knowing full well they will be murdered by the enemy, yet still maintain morale? How do you react when half of your army, about 40,000 soldiers, is killed when crossing a river in a week-long battle? I learned a lot about leadership [during that trip.]"
In December 1953, Ariel Sharon convened the soldiers of Unit 101, divided them into four groups, and assigned each one with a different mission. One group was ordered to carry out a retaliatory operation in Hebron, which was under Jordanian rule at the time, during which three civilians and a commander of the Jordanian National Guard were killed.
"There is a fascinating story about that operation in Hebron. Israeli soldiers entered a Palestinian house, and a shooting ensued. A baby began to cry in the next room, and [commander] Meir Ha Tzion told [unit member Shimon] Kahner to go and calm the baby, which he did.
"After the 1967 Six-Day War, Kahner returned to Hebron, where he met the baby he had calmed down many years prior.
"The boy told Kahner that until the day she died, his mother used to tell him about the Israeli soldier who came into their room to calm the baby and did not harm them.
"Tell me, does any other army in the world have such stories?"
Q: And what mission did Ariel Sharon assign to your group?
"Our group consisted of five soldiers. The mission was to attack the Jordanian Legion camp in Tarqumiyah [near Hebron.] The night was moonlit, unlike any other time I've seen. It had rained and snowed before, so the air was so clear you could see 200 meters ahead with no binoculars.
"Arik appointed Lieutenant Yossele Regev as our commander. We had no satellite imagery of the camp, so we knew that we could not plan an attack until we arrived at the camp.
"On the other hand, the Jordanian soldiers could have noticed us approaching the camp, and then our attack would not be unexpected. On our way there, a dog growled at us, actually, but luckily the Jordanian soldiers did not notice.
"There were also houses nearby, so if anyone had looked out his window that night, he would have noticed us immediately.
"At around 8 pm, we noticed Jordanian Bedouins who live in caves nearby, and they saw us. They came out of their caves and stood right above us. I think they were frightened.
"The instinct in such instances is to open fire in self-defense, but at that moment, Yossele [the commander] showed incredible self-restraint and ordered us loudly, in Hebrew, 'Do not shoot.'
"We took our fingers off the trigger. The Bedouins went back to their caves but sent ammunition towards us. We had no choice but to fire back.
"It was clear to us at that point that we weren't going to reach the Jordanian camp and that we could not return via the same route we came on because of the Jordanian ambush with the dogs. Yossele said, 'Let's go back to the border.' Under those circumstances, that was the right decision to make. Any other decision would have been suicide.
"We had to climb over the ridge on a full moon night [so we were easily seen.] No wonder bullets whistled everywhere around us. We laid as close to the ground as possible and continued to crawl. At some point, a gunman ran towards us with a rifle and shot at us. I was the last one [climbing], and I heard his bullets hit the ground just a meter away from us.
Q: Did you shoot back?
"No. I restrained myself because the shooter was a civilian. I made way to Yossele to ask him if I could shoot the gunman, but by then, we were already in a dark ravine, so the shooter could no longer see us. There was no point in shooting him.
Q: What happened by the end of the operation?
"The Jordanians complained to the UN that Israel invaded its territory, but at least there were no casualties on either side.
"We did not carry out the mission under those circumstances. We wanted to, but we understood that retreating was the right decision. Yossele could have ordered us to persevere and sacrifice our lives. But what would that have achieved?
Q: Did Ariel Sharon send you back to carry out your mission?
"No. He was updated on the events of the previous night and felt no need to repeat the operation in this case. For him, the goal of instilling fear in the enemy had already been achieved."
After Unit 101 was disbanded, Ben-Uziel served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He was discharged from the IDF with the rank of major and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel during his reserve duty.
In the mid-1960s, he went to Ethiopia for two years to train a local military unit to fight terrorism.
"My work in Ethiopia allowed me to understand the relationship between its various tribal groups, which later helped me when I worked at Mossad."
Ben-Uziel began working at the Mossad in the 1960s and was in charge of intel gathering and rescuing Jews that were stranded in other countries in distress.
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"That gave me a sense of mission of the highest degree."
Also during his work for the Mossad, Ben-Uziel traveled to Africa in 1969 to train rebels in South Sudan, an action that was at the time perceived as strategically beneficial to Israel.
"It was important back then because the rebels could capture military forces that would otherwise enlist Egyptians in a war against us."
At some point, Ben-Uziel was ordered to cross the border into Ethiopia to help Ethiopian Jews immigrate to Israel as part of "Operation Brothers" in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Q: You often join other tour guides to share your story.
"Yes. I believe that our country values its history and landscapes. I am happy to share my knowledge with people that are interested to learn more, especially if they will share my stories with others.
Q: And you plan to continue sharing your story?
"Absolutely."
