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The Jewish Federation of Las Vegas along with Jack and Marcy Simon will donate some 35 multi-tool pliers to the Haruv Battalion of the Israel Army’s Kfir Brigade as an early Passover present.
The donation was organized Nevada Assemblyman John Ellison and Advocate publisher Howard Copelan, whose son Arieh recently completed the grueling 7 month long basic training course and is now serving on the front lines with the Haruv Battalion.
According to the IDF website, the Kfir Brigade is the largest brigade in the Israel Defense Forces. The unit was officially formed in February 2005 out of a collection of battalions – Nachshon, Shimshon, Haruv, Duchifat, Lavi, and Netzah Yehuda – into a full brigade. The Brigade specializes in anti-terror fighting and combats in urban areas, its soldiers are willing to volunteer to stand at the forefront of a determined fight against terrorism. The brigade’s battalions are deployed in Palestinian towns stretching from Hebron in the south to Tulkarem in the north, sharing the burden of intense fighting. The brigade carries out challenging, complex operations demanding the soldiers demonstrate a level of expertise, steadfastness, initiative, and determination on a daily basis.
The Haruv Battalion was reestablished as an infantry battalion in 1995. The Battalion assumes responsibility for the Palestinian city of Nablus, and operates in the Samaria territorial brigade.
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“When Arieh graduated this February he asked for a multi-tool,” Howard Copelan explained. “His platoon weapon is the Negev, the light machine gun of the Israeli infantry and cleaning it with just a screw driver can be tedious. Multi tools are almost impossible to find in Israel so we got him the best on we could find and he loved it. The only thing is the rest of his platoon all wanted one. But 35 multi tools at $85 a had is a little beyond our budget. When we got home I thought about doing a fund raiser for them and called my friend Assemblyman John Ellison for some pointers. He took the ball ran with it and scored a touchdown.”
A first term Nevada assemblyman and former Elko County Commissioner and Elko City Councilman Ellison made the project his own and in less than two weeks found the equipment and the funding to bring the multi-tools to the battalion.
“The Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Jack and Marcy Simon are the real heroes in this story,” Ellison said. “Everyone who knows me knows that I am a firm and fervent supporter of Israel and its soldiers and I am proud that there is one young man from Elko County who is serving there.”
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Arieh is the third child of the Copelan family to serve in the IDF. Older sister Anna was in the IDF Spokesman office and older brother Chalom was an officer also in Haruv Battalion and is now in the reserves.
