CONNECTED: Manchester, New Hampshire’s Adam Harmon was part of the Israeli army’s elite Sayuret reconnaissance unit. |
When he was 22, Adam Harmon, born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, moved to Israel and joined the Israeli army. While American soldiers were deployed to Iraq and Kuwait in 1991 for the first Gulf War, Harmon was in Gaza and the West Bank, serving as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces. He returned stateside to civilian life in 2000, but continues to serve in the reserves, and has returned to Israel several times — including a stint participating in Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
Harmon’s new book, Lonely Soldier:The Memoir of an American in the Israeli Army (Ballantine), offers an unusual perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian situation. The Phoenix reached Harmon at his home in Washington, DC.
Your first visit to Israel at age 14 really was a transformative event. How so?
Being a Jew, the idea of Jerusalem and of Israel is a central part of our religion, of all of our holidays, and our prayers. Before I went there, it was sort of an abstract place. But when I went there, what changed was that I felt really connected to it. When we went to the [Western or “Wailing”] Wall, I realized that this wall has been here thousands of years, and my ancestors prayed here. It presented a real emotional connection between my distant past and my people, and showed me how I was a part of that. The idea of actually wanting to live there grew out of that first experience.
Israeli citizenship is granted automatically to any Jewish person, but you also have to fulfill the military service mandated of all citizens. Rather than just fulfilling your service, why did you strive to get accepted into the elite sayeret reconnaissance unit?
It’s a personality thing. As an individual, if I’m going to do something, I want to do my best. That’s part of it. But it’s also important to keep it in context. In America, when people are highly motivated in high school, and they want to excel in their lives, they start thinking about, “How do I get into Harvard?” or, “How do I get into Columbia?” In Israel, what those highly motivated kids think is, “How do I get into the most elite unit?” I wanted to serve with people who wanted to excel. The other side of it was, as a new immigrant, I wanted to be part of the country. In Israel, security has always been the main question that people ask themselves. “Should we be in the West Bank? Should we not be? Should we be in Lebanon? Should we not be?” If I was going to have a credible voice and a real understanding of those things, especially as someone who hadn’t grown up there, I thought it was important to actually experience those things myself.
What was it like to fight for Israel during the first Gulf War while other Americans were fighting next door to liberate Kuwait?
That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought about that. But at the time, Israel was under attack too. You had kind of a simultaneous thing. My focus at that time was, “I’m living here, I have a job as a soldier to do, and to kind of protect the citizens of Israel.” That was the focus of my attention then.
Will you return?
I’m definitely planning on going back. Given what’s going on now, I’m just doing what I’ve done in the past, which is check in with my friends and ask if we’re getting any indication that our unit is getting called up.
Does the news of kidnapped army corporal Galid Shalit, murdered settler Eliyahu Asheri, and the offensive into Gaza have you feeling powerless, wishing you could return and do something about it?
Without question. The first time I heard about it, I was glued to my e-mail account to see if I’m getting any messages from friends. And without question there’s a personal struggle to know that I have this capability, to be an effective soldier, and there’s constantly a sense that if I was there then I could be a part of hopefully freeing [Shalit].... At the same time, I certainly recognize that whether I am there or not, it’s certainly not going to impact the success of the mission. It’s not as if the Israeli military needs me to be there. I work in marketing. My day-to-day job is to help sell the widgets of my company. There’s a satisfaction of a job well-done: we sold 20 percent more widgets this year than last year. But it doesn’t compare to the satisfaction of knowing that the work I did today may have saved some lives.
