Usually, when the mobile broadcast van of JCS - The Jerusalem Capital Studios Group is sent to an army base in the middle of the night to film the Chief of Staff, it’s in connection with a secret mission or the capture of yet another illegal arms shipment. But on Tuesday night it was somewhat different.
The annual gala benefit for “Friends of the IDF” in the USA (FIDF) was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, with more than 1,400 guests from across America and Israel.
In appreciation of FIDF’s continual contribution and the meaningful change it provides for the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers and their families, all the former Chiefs of Staff came to salute and honor the donors. The former officers included Gabi Ashkenazi, Dan Halutz, MK Shaul Mofaz, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak.
In accordance with procedure that at no time should both the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff be out of Israel, current Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz did not attend the event. So in order for Gantz to participate in the gala benefit, despite of the time difference, JCS sent a broadcast team that included a mobile van and three cameras, to film the Chief of Staff at an air force base at Palmachim at 3 am.
The broadcast was transmitted via satellite, from the meeting hall on the base, which was packed with soldiers, to the JCS control center that was set up at the prestigious hotel and shown directly on a large screen to the convention guests.
JCS CEO Hanani Rapoport said, "JCS, who meets the army at war time, is happy to meet with the army at an evening such as this."
The evening raised over $23 million for the benefit of IDF soldiers.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 23, 2011
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