Yuval Rouz, CEO of the fintech company ‘Digital Asset’, left his job behind and ran from the United States to the battlefield when the war between Israel and Hamas broke out. His photo shows him loading combat helmets, goggles, gloves and knee pads onto a truck to be provided free of charge to Israeli troops. /Yuval Rouge
“My family is in shelters, and my friends are on the front lines, risking their lives. How can you stay still in New York? “It’s natural to leave everything aside.”
When war broke out due to Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, Jewish elites from all over the world rushed to board a plane to Tel Aviv, saying they would fight for their country. This is a scene that happens every time Israel is in a national crisis. Among those who volunteered to go to the front line was Yuval Rouge (42), CEO of Digital Asset, a fintech company on Wall Street in New York. As an entrepreneur with over 200 employees and an American citizen, he immediately booked a flight upon hearing the news of the outbreak of war and managed to enter the country via Amsterdam, Netherlands.
When we met at the Weizmann Center in downtown Tel Aviv on the 14th (local time), he said, “Israelis have been so used to these types of attacks,” and added, “It is true that when I heard the news of the first rocket attack, I thought, ‘What’s going on?’” He was born in the United States and spent his childhood. When he enlisted in 2009, he was assigned to an area adjacent to the Gaza Strip. At the time, he desperately wanted to take advantage of his experience and be sent to the front line with a gun, but he was not accepted because it had been too long since he had been discharged.
“My best friends are still in the special forces, and I wanted to fight with them, but it’s a shame,” he said. He began supplying various personal combat equipment free of charge to reservists gathered on the front lines. Combat helmets, goggles, gloves, knee pads, etc. are purchased in bulk and delivered directly by truck.
However, even this ‘rear supply work’ was not easy. An untimely competition for ‘patriotic hoarding’ broke out as middle-aged and older men, who, like themselves, had their hopes of deploying to the front lines thwarted, flocked to military equipment stores for the same purpose. “There were more than one or two people who were buying up combat equipment. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a large reserve force called up, so I’m confident it will be helpful.”
‘Digital Asset’, which he leads, has as partners some of the leading financial companies on Wall Street and global conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, and has received over $300 million (approximately 400 billion won) in investments. The connections built while building a company are powerful. “Before I came to Tel Aviv, just in case, I sent an email to my acquaintances requesting donations saying, ‘We will fight the enemy and protect our country,’ and in just a few hours, $500,000 (approximately 680 million won) was raised. He also donated a lot of money in Korea.”
Among the Israelis who volunteered to go to the front, he is one of the younger ones. News of a 56-year-old man volunteering for military service with his two sons and a 95-year-old grandfather who was active in an armed organization before the founding of the nation volunteered to join the military are being reported. The foundation that brought them together was not only patriotism but also anger toward Hamas’s atrocities. Many of his friends, relatives, and neighbors were killed in this attack.
“Hamas murdered, kidnapped, raped, and beheaded numerous civilians this time. Many of them are vulnerable, including women and children. They set fire to living bodies and brutally murdered pregnant women. “We cannot live in the same world as those who committed subhuman acts.”
In response to concerns that many Palestinian civilians could be sacrificed due to Israel’s ground force counterattack, he said, “I support peaceful coexistence with Palestine and am sincerely concerned about their well-being, but the problem is that Hamas is trying to exploit their sacrifice.” . “Hamas is only interested in consolidating its power through conflict and hatred.”
He expressed strong anger at the sympathies of Palestine and criticism of Israel by some in the international community, including Harvard University students in the United States. “How can those who pursue political correctness sympathize with Hamas, which oppresses women and homosexuals? “It is gross hypocrisy for the privileged to support Palestine and criticize Israel to show off that they are progressive and enlightened.”
At the same time, he also raised the question of responsibility for the current Benjamin Netanyahu government, which has pushed hardline Palestinian policies. “The small number of extremist forces within the current administration are the same (who have worsened the problem). Israelis will never shift responsibility (only to Palestine).”
#Wall #Street #CEO #rushed #Israel #war #broke #out.. #Raised #hours
2023-10-16 19:25:31
