Avi Dorfman
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Avi Dorfman (Hebrew: אבי דורפמן) is an Israeli survivor of the 2007 rocket attack on Zikim Base Bahad 4 in which he suffered a critical brain injury. Dorfman's actions helped to save lives
| Avi Dorfman | |
|---|---|
| Photo of Avi Dorfman, May 26, 2016 Avi Dorfman, 2016 | |
| Born | Avraham Dorfman March 24, 1989 Tel Aviv, Israel |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Israeli |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Surviving a critical brain injury sustained in a 2007 terror attack while rescuing others, pro-Israel activism. |
Biography[edit]
Avraham "Avi" Dorfman was born in Tel Aviv on March 24, 1989 to parents Dalia, a homemaker, and Binyamin Dorfman, a physician. As a child, Dorfman showed a keen interest in physics, mechanics and technology, building a computer at the age of twelve. [1]Dorfman was offered a scholarship by UCLA but turned it down to serve in an elite intelligence unit in the Israel Defense Forces.[2]
Zikim Base terror attack[edit]
In 2007, Dorfman was critically wounded in the Zikim Base terrorist attack in which 69 new recruits were injured.[3]Doctors initially classified Dorfman as mortally wounded. He was unconscious for three weeks and his recovery deemed "miraculous."[2]
According to newspaper reports, Dorfman was hit when he stayed behind to administer aid to comrades instead of running for shelter.[4]
Dorfman was hit all over his body except for the torso, which was covered by a bulletproof vest. One piece of shrapnel hit Dorfman's right eye, and split into three pieces. One cut the eye, one moved through the hole between the eye and the brain and split in two: the first part went up through his ipsilateral frontal lobe, and the other crossed the corpus callosum and destroyed his olfactory bulbs, completely eliminating his sense of smell, and Broca's Area on the contralateral side, the area in charge of speech.
Dorfman's parents were told he would probably die within ten days, and if by some miracle he survived, he would be permanently physically and mentally disabled.[1] Against the odds, he recovered his cognitive and motor function, as well as his speech ability.[2] He lost his right eye and his sense of smell.
In BaMahane, the IDF Magazine, published shortly after the attack, Dorfman was described as an IDF medical miracle.[5]He was awarded a medal from the IDF Medical Corps for his bravery in saving lives.[1]
Following his recovery, Dorfman rejoined the same elite unit and completed his military service.[1]
UCLA Controversy[edit]
Following his recovery, Dorfman was again accepted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2009, where he majored in computational mathematics and earned a spot on the Dean's List. He dropped out in August, 2011 after completing his sophomore year.
On February 11, 2016, Dorfman penned a highly controversial Op-Ed [6] for The Algemeiner Journal about how he was bullied for being an IDF veteran, claiming that left-wing Jewish students had called him a "right wing extremist Palestinian baby killer" and made him feel very unsafe on campus as a result of his decision to volunteer and complete his military service when he had the choice not to. In that article, Dorfman mentions having felt forced to leave UCLA due to having been interrogated by "spies" who claimed to be from the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Dorfman claims he answered with lies to get them off his back, but ran away because he feared retribution.
His claims were denied by several members of UCLA Hillel and Bruins for Israel, who claimed he continued to harass them about their inclusion of J Street as a Hillel group.[6] He also stated that he was removed, blocked, and ostracized from the group he helped run, Bruins for Israel, which he claimed he was told was due to absences from meetings as a result of his disability that he had received permission for at the time, but he believes it was due to his vocal opposition to the popular left-wing student group J-Street that dominated the group's membership.
Personal life[edit]
Upon leaving UCLA, Dorfman began studying computer science at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. He left after one year following his recruitment by the startup Feedeo. When the startup failed, he joined another startup, Yeez.it, which also failed. He has joined a third startup to make an easy highlight-to-comment/copy when a pair of former IDF soldiers that hate the fact he survived (who have been haunting him from 2007 to this day) had planned to sabotage his work. He left that startup out of pure fear because the police simply did not do a thing. He has since gotten heavily involved in Israel advocacy, having worked with groups such as StandWithUs.[7]
In addition to working on startups, he works as a freelance programmer and website designer in Tel Aviv.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Seligson, Shimshon (January 27, 2016). "The incredible story of the miracle that saved this hero's life". 12TribeFilms. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lerner, Aaron (December 26, 2007). "Miracle: Mortally Wounded Soldier Fully Recovers". IMRA.
- ↑ Waked, Ali (November 19, 2008). "Palestinian Terror Group Gloats over Zikim Closure". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ↑ Gili Izikovitz (September 21, 2007). "He Saved Lives (in Hebrew)". Haaretz.
|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ↑ Elad Arden (June 2008). "The Medical Corps is a Part of my Life: Actual Medical Miracles [In Hebrew]". Bamahane.
|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dorfman, Avi (February 11, 2016). "How I Was Harassed by UCLA's Jewish Community for Being an IDF Veteran". Algemeiner Journal. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
- ↑ StandWithUs. "Thanks to Communications expert, Neil Lazarus, who helps train our student ambassadors". StandWithUs. Retrieved 2016-06-01.
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