Mefaked Ilan, Ari Fuld’s HY”D commander in an elite reserves paratrooper unit, reminisced about Ari with Ari’s wife Miriam, on Friday.
Ilan came to the town of Efrat to receive a donation of custom-designed masks for all the soldier’s in Ari’s paratrooper unit. The masks were donated by The Ari Fuld Project and have the logo of the unit imprinted on them.
Ilan told the JewishPress.com, “Ari’s family and friends will never forget him and his legacy for a moment. What better represents Ari’s ideals than donating comfortable Corona defense masks that allow the soldiers to continue their mission during these days of the Coronavirus, as well as expressing the magnitude of Ari’s personality to the Orev paratrooper platoon which he served in and loved so much.”
This past Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, The Ari Fuld Project donated masks to the counter-terrorist unit in Efrat where Ari also served.
Also on this past Yom HaZikaron, an archivist for the Israeli government discovered a letter written by Ari Fuld to Minister Rechavam “Gandhi” Ze’evi, who was a retired IDF Major General.
After Ari completed his army service in the Golani infantry brigade in 1993, he received an exemption from reserve duty. That didn’t sit well with Ari, and for years he fought with the IDF bureaucracy to get into a reserve unit, but made no headway – but that didn’t stop Ari, and he just kept climbing the proverbial ladder until he found someone who would get him back in.
In his letter to the minister, Ari asked for the minister’s help in getting into a reserve unit and serving in the IDF. Rechavam Ze’evi took the letter to heart, and got Ari into the special forces reserves paratrooper unit where he served until the end.
Ari Fuld was a teacher, an elite soldier, a Torah scholar, and a pro-Israel activist. He promoted Aliyah, love for the land of Israel, helping IDF soldiers, learning Torah and being proud to be Jewish.
One of Ari’s passions was getting much-needed equipment, as well as food and chocolate, for IDF soldiers and security personnel.
Ari was murdered by an Arab terrorist on September 16, 2018. The terrorist stabbed him in the back outside a Gush Etzion shopping center. Despite his mortal wounds, and true to form, Ari’s last act was to chase the terrorist down and shoot him, preventing the terrorist from harming anyone else.