Asher Maizels, 31-32, is a Canadian from Toronto who immigrated to Israel and joined its military in a paratrooper unit.
Maizels was featured in a May 2016 Facebook post from Chayal el Chayal, which is an organization that describes itself as “a home away from home for Lone Soldiers in the IDF.” (The organization was started by Mordechai (Mordy) Botnick, who is included in this database.)
The post included a photograph of Maizels holding falafel with the following caption: “The other day, Asher, a Lone Soldier from Toronto, Canada went out to get a falafel. As he approached the cashier the young man standing behind him waved him off and said‘don’t worry bro, I got this.’ Confused, Asher asked ‘What? No no!’ The man said with a smile, ‘I too was a Lone Soldier and when I first drafted someone behind me bought me my first falafel, I’m just paying it forward!’”
Maizels was also quoted in a February 2017 article from The Jerusalem Post titled, “Lone soldiers benefit from bureaucratic one-stop shop on ‘Errands Day,’”: “Asher Maizels, 23, had advanced to the front of the line, waiting to convert his Canadian license to an Israeli one. ‘Should be at the front soon,’ grins the paratrooper, noting that he’s been waiting for ‘a little bit of time but it’s moving along, considering the process that it is.’ Also on Maizel’s list is getting an Israeli passport.”
