Lt. Col. E, also known as Abu Yaqub, heads the IDF’s ‘Good Neighbor Directorate,’ that coordinates the transfer of food and medical supplies into Syria, as well as patients from Syria into northern Israel for medical treatment. Prior, Abu Yaqub spent his career at Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the IDF branch tasked with coordinating humanitarian affairs with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
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Our Voice of the Fortnight is from the Times of Israel's 'Wartime Diaries' podcast. In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, Shai Davidai – an Assistant Professor at Columbia University – became an unlikely public defender of Israel. And truthfully, even he was surprised by this turn of events: As a committed left-wing Israeli, he had spent years criticizing the government, and often took to the streets to demonstrate against its policies. But the atmosphere he witnessed on college campuses (and specifically on his own campus at Columbia), compelled him to speak up and speak out.