A 33-year-old French doctor broke the mold when he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces four months ago. Fifteen years older than the recruits who were beginning their mandatory service with him, Dr. David Smadja was the oldest lone soldier in IDF history. Smadja, the son of doctors living in Paris, completed his medical studies in France and made aliyah less than two years ago, aged 31. He studied Hebrew in an ulpan, an intensive Hebrew language program, before joining the IDF. After completing basic training, he continued on to a course in military emergency medicine, and began working as a doctor in the Givati Brigade's Shaked Battalion on Sunday. "I studied medicine for 11 years in France, including completing a residency as an eye doctor in the U.S. and Paris," said Smadja, who has two brothers, one also a doctor and the other a tour guide in Israel. "The decision to make aliyah and serve in the army came to me over 10 years ago, when my brother, who is two years older than me, came to Israel and served as a lone soldier in the Paratroopers' Special Forces. My parents and I visited my brother in Israel many times. I was impressed with the country and the army, and I decided that I also wanted to go for it," he said. "I knew that I had to first finish school and my residency, and only then would I realize my dream [of making aliyah]. I didn't for a moment abandon my dreams of making aliyah, coming to Israel, and serving in the IDF. A year and a half ago, I made aliyah, and after completing ulpan, I signed up to serve in the army as a lone soldier for a year and a half."
Smadja continued, "After the course that I have just finished, I will serve as a doctor in the Shaked Battalion. It's important to serve in the IDF and to contribute to the security of the country, as a doctor, as a fighter, as a soldier. It doesn't matter how. Everyone in his own field."
