The Lone Soldier Podcast

Aaron Bours grew up in Great Neck, New York, and at 19 moved to Israel through the Mahal program to enlist in the IDF. He served as a lone soldier in the Givati Brigade, navigating the challenges of military service while learning Hebrew, building roots, and connecting with his fellow soldiers and with Israel. After his service, Aaron built a career in tech, working at Checkpoint and Google before...

Noy Leyb was born and raised in Canada, and at 18 moved to Israel to join the IDF. Since then, he has been an activist fighting against antisemitism. On October 7th, Noy was living in New York, where he was the COO and co-founder of a Tech-stars backed company. Noy left his company behind him, and boarded the first flight to Israel to join his unit in the war against Hamas. His commitment to Israe...

Bernardo CT made Aliyah from Mexico City in 2006, and spent over 16 years in Israel’s security forces, during which time he carried out hundreds of operations. His expertise covers high-risk police tactics, special operations (SOF), dignitary protection (CP) and close quarters battle (CQB). He  served as a Federal Air Marshall, personal bodyguard to the Chief of Staff (IDF), a combat instructor an...

In the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, with a degree from Harvard, and a highly coveted job, Adam Ross did something unthinkable. He quit his job, left behind everyone he knew and loved, and moved to Israel to enlist in the IDF. His friends and family thought he was crazy, but Adam was disillusioned with the life he thought he wanted, and realized he wanted to become something bigger. For Adam...

Max Long made Aliyah from Boston, Massachusetts in 2015 and as a new immigrant with no Hebrew, family, or community, began his journey at the absorption center in Raanana.  At the age of 18  Max enlisted in the IDF as a Lone Soldier in the Yahalom unit, which is a specialized combat engineering unit. After completing his service, he founded Concierge Group Real Estate and Aliyah Concierge with a m...

On Episode 5, I spoke with Dr. Michael Oren .  Michael served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. from 2009 to 2013. He is the author of many books,  including NYT's best-sellers Power, Faith and Fantasy and Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East . He recently released his first 2 novels, To All Who Call in Truth, and The Night Archer and Other Stories . I was...

On episode 4, I spoke with Jason Blankfield, CEO and founder of Frontline Leadership .  Prior to enlisting in the IDF, Jason describes himself as a passive observer of a life that had been chosen for him. When Jason graduated from University, he felt strongly that he needed to deviate from that path.  As he looked at a map of the world, a single country jumped out at him. Within several days, he h...

This week I spoke with Omer Rom , who is currently working for one of Australia's top law firms. Omer grew up on stories of Israel and the IDF from his father and grandfather, and on a year-long trip to Israel at the age of 18, resolved that he would one day come back to serve. Thanks to some good advice from his mother (shout out to Mama Rom!), Omer decided to do his first year of law school...

On episode 2 of the Lone Soldier Podcast, I spoke with Sean Ir , whose journey to and through the IDF was unconventional.  Sean was extremely motivated and strong, both mentally and physically, having grown up working 16 hour days in his father's bike shop. At 24 years old,  after struggling for years to reconcile his career ambitions in the U.S. with his dream of military service in Israel,...

On this episode, the first of the Lone Soldier Podcast, I sat down with Nuri Golan , a former commando and officer in Shayetet 13, the Israeli Navy Seals. Nuri moved to Israel after getting his degree in Aeronautical Engineering from George Washington University, and served for 6 years in the Seal teams. Nuri and I spoke about the move from the United States to Israel and the cultural adjustment t...