Produced by The History Channel and Toldot Yisrael, this short film tells personal stories of volunteers who helped Israel during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948.
Called Mahal or Machal, they were the “volunteers from abroad”. Most of the more than four thousand volunteers were Jews, but many were also non-Jews. All of them had critical education experience and skills needed to build and defend the new nation. Disbanded after the war the stories of the Mahal remain.=
“Then a nation in tears and amazement will ask: ‘who are you?’ and they will answer quietly, ‘we are the silver platter on which the Jewish State was given.’ Thus they will say and fall back in shadows and the rest will be told in the chronicles of Israel. (Toldot Israel)” – “The Silver Platter” Natan Alterman 1947
Toldot Yisrael is a non-profit organization based in Jerusalem - dedicated to sharing and recording the testimonies of those who helped to found the State of Israel.
Written by Richard Paracka
