Gen. David Uri Ben Uziel: The Israeli soldier who fought with the Anyanya One under the leadership of Gen. Joseph Lagu
8 min readGen. David Uri Ben Uziel: The First Israeli Who Entered South Sudan and Contributed Tremendously to the Independence South Sudan
I, Comrade Larco Lomayat proud and privileged to meet in Tel Aviv, The State of Israel (The Holy Land) on December 11, 2015 with General, Gen. David Uri Ben Uziel (AKA Tarzan or John), The First Israeli who entered South Sudan in 1960s and Contributed Tremendously to the Freedom and Independence of South Sudan.
Dear all,
Greetings from Jerusalem, the State of Israel (The Holy Land)
December 11, 2015 (SSB) —- History is the study of past events, particularly in human affairs or past events connected with someone or something. It is an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of information about these events that cannot be retrieved, nor completely known or understood or a record of the important things that happened in the past.
In the 1960s, Israeli envoys met with South Sudanese leaders (Anya Nya) and an extensive aid program was drawn up in the spheres of agriculture and infrastructure development. The Israeli government found ways to assist the regional government, mainly through Mashav, the international cooperation division of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Non-governmental organizations.
Gen. David Uri Ben Uziel (AKA Tarzan or John) is the First Israeli to enter South Sudan in 1969 for a fact finding mission in order come to conclusion about of the envelopment of the State of Israel to build the Anya Nya to become a fighting force for the freedom of the People of South Sudan.
Gen. John who served in 101 Commando Unit in Israeli Defense Force under Gen. Sharon and in the paratroopers (Red Braise) entered South Sudan on May 10, 1969 with the purpose of fact finding mission. His positive report made the Israeli Government under the Prime Minister Golda Meir to make a decision to assist and build up the Anya Nya forces (Freedom Fighters) under the Command of Colonel Joseph Lagu.
The buildup of what was called The First Equatoria Battalion in the Anya Nya headquarters in Owiny-Kibul. Through his positive report, the Israeli government sent weapons, medicines, military uniforms, landmines, explosives and everything to put up a fighting force.
During his time in 1969, Gen. John had done what it takes to make Anya Nya Forces strong; he walked on operations thousands of miles in the bushes of South Sudan with the Anya Nya forces giving encouragement and logistic support all the time.
Based on his contribution to the Anya Nya, Colonel Joseph Lagu, Leader of Anya Nya awarded him (John) with Certificate for his bravery and also promoted him to the rank of Colonel in Owinykibul in a colorful ceremony attended by hundreds of Anya Nya Freedom Fighters. At the Ceremony, Colonel Joseph Lagu, told the Anya Nya Freedom fighters to salute Col. John David B. Uziel who is “ONE OF US” Means in Arabic (Wahid Minana)
Gen. John who turned 80 years old in July 2015 spent most of his live giving support to Anya Nya Freedom fighters to become strong army.
At the meeting of Prime Minister Golda Meir with Lagu she said to him: “If you arrive at a peace agreement with the North, we will not stand in your way”
The flow of arms to the South Sudan resulted in closer ties between the provinces and their commanders. Col. Jossef Ackwan from the Upper Nile and Col. Emmanuel Abur from Bahar El Razal met Lagu to receive their consignment of arms.
The medical supplies provided were almost the same in quality and quantity to the arms shipments. These included vaccines to children, soldiers and civilians. Medical doctors was also provided with each delegation coming in.
The building of the military force in South Sudan provided the basis and military framework which resulted in both command and operational experience. The above changed the situation of years whereby the North could harass the population of the South Sudan.
The Anya Nya soldiers demonstrated a high level of discipline, a willingness to learn all relevant subjects and above all demonstrated stubbornness in sticking to their missions.
After a few months of training and military operations and before returning home, I found the following in my diary: “In spite of our expectations to return home we felt sad. We were leaving behind more than just instructions and advice but also our hearts and souls together with a feeling of closeness to the people. In summary they are Comrades in Arms” John says
John who came to South Sudan with the rank of Lt. Colonel was promoted to the rank of colonel by Joseph Lagu, and subsequently as respect for his contribution, John was given a title of General by the current leadership and friends of South Sudan for his contributions to the independence of South Sudan.
The State of Israel was one of the first nations to recognize and welcome as a new nation the Republic of South Sudan on July 9, 2011.
In 2008, the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute visited South Sudan to study how Israel could assist in preparation for South Sudanese independence. Through the Africa Institute, contact was made between senior members of the South Sudanese leadership and officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Lignet suggests that South Sudan seeks to foster security cooperation and economic ties with Israel. South Sudan also has access to oil and other natural resources that may be beneficial to Israel.
On 9 July 2011, South Sudan officially gained its independence from Sudan. Israel recognized its independence the following day, during a weekly cabinet meeting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet that “I announce here that Israel recognizes South Sudan. We wish it success. It is a peace-seeking country and we would be happy to cooperate with it in order to ensure its development and prosperity.
On 15 July 2011, South Sudan reciprocated, citing a desire for international peace. This is considered a significant boon to Israel, as it has never had official diplomatic relations with Sudan.
On July 28, after an Israeli delegation visited the South Sudanese capital of Juba the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that Israel would establish full diplomatic relations with South Sudan and the practical aspects, such as accrediting ambassadors, would be discussed through the diplomatic channels. On Wednesday, May 9, 2011 in Juba, Israeli Ambassador to South Sudan, Haim Koren was accredited and met with President Salva Kiir.
In August 2011, South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, told a visiting Israeli delegation that included MK Danny Danon that Sudan planned to establish its Embassy in Jerusalem. But due to some reasons, South Sudan has established an Embassy in Tel Aviv and deployed H. E. Ambassador Ruben Marial Benjamin as the first South Sudan Ambassador to the State of Israel who is faithfully dedicating all his energy running the embassy efficiently for the benefit of the country and the people of South Sudan.
Personally, when I meet the leadership of the Israeli Government in person of the incumbent Prime Minister H. E. Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu and others, I thanked them for their great efforts and tremendous contributions that led to the Freedom of our indigenous people of the great nation “The Republic of South Sudan”.
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from.
About Post Author
