Eli Woodrow is a Canadian from Toronto. He was featured in a March 2023 post on the “Smiling Soldiers” Instagram account, which states that it is “trying to show the world the real, happy, fun and human side of the IDF.”
The post stated: “My name is Eli Woodrow, and I am a lone soldier in the Golani Brigade (Batallion 51) originally from Toronto, Canada. During my visit to Israel for my bar mitzvah in 2013, I frequently saw soldiers patrolling the streets of Jerusalem with their weapons and uniforms, and I aspired to be a part of it. While attending yeshivah in 2018, a friend suggested that I enlist, but I didn’t feel ready at the time. However, during the ‘Operation Guardians of the Walls’ in May 2021, I had a lot of free time and noticed many anti-Israel and anti-Semitic comments made online about the IDF, which deeply troubled me.
After returning to university, I started wearing my Magen David chain outside my shirt and received negative comments from others occasionally. After experiencing this a few times, I thought to myself that perhaps it was time for me to enlist and use the passion that had been building inside me to become the best possible soldier and protect my people and their only safe haven. I enlisted in Golani in August 2022, and it has been the most amazing experience of my life, and I wouldn’t change anything about my path.”
