FIDF Announces New Leadership Roles

The Georgia and Southeast States’ Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) go forward with two impressive leaders in key roles. Mechal Perl will serve as the new associate director, and local attorney Ben Levy as the new chairman of the Leadership Council. Both exemplify a commitment to Israel and the soldiers of the IDF in their personal history, experience, and shared sense of responsibility.

Born in the U.S., Perl was raised in Israel by parents who immigrated after World War II. They were children of Holocaust survivors and carried with them a deep sense of pride in having served in the IDF and defending Israel during the Six-Day War. That pride shaped Perl’s path. During her IDF service, she was a weapons instructor for various combat units, gaining firsthand insight into the weight of responsibility the soldiers carry. After her service, she studied law in the U.K. and California and was admitted to practice in New York and California in both corporate immigration and real estate law. More than 15 years ago, she moved to Atlanta with her husband with whom she is raising three children, all in Jewish day schools. She said, “Though my life is now rooted in the United States, Israel has never been far from my heart.”

Like so many, Oct. 7 was deeply personal to her. Perl’s brother enlisted as a combat doctor in Gaza, and nearly everyone she knew in Israel was either reenlisting or volunteering. In Atlanta, Perl wanted to do her part, and, as a longtime lay leader in various pro-Israel organizations, one organization stood out as a beacon of action and care for Israel’s soldiers; so, she made it her mission to work for FIDF.

That sense of duty also resonates with Ben Levy’s story. He grew up hearing stories from the Holocaust from both sides of his family — his mother’s parents, who survived concentration and death camps; his father’s parents, who fled the Isle of Rhodes when they saw “the writing on the wall”; and six of his eight great-grandparents were deported and murdered at Auschwitz. In total, more than 25 members of his family were murdered in the Shoah.

Because of that history, Levy has always understood the necessity of Israel as a safe haven for the Jewish people. He related, “On Yom HaShoah, we remember the cost of not having a Jewish state. On Yom HaZikaron, we remember the price paid to protect and keep it. Without the sacrifice of Israel’s soldiers, there would be no Israel, and Jews everywhere would be less safe. The IDF ensures that ‘Never Again’ is not merely a slogan, but a promise. No matter which way the winds blow, I will always support the soldiers who defend Israel and the Jewish people.”

Levy often reflects on what he calls “winning the birth lottery — being born in America with all the advantages and opportunities that come with it.”

As a personal injury attorney, Levy has supported many worthy Jewish organizations and American veteran organizations, but FIDF stands apart because its mission aligns so directly with his values — supporting IDF soldiers’ physical rehabilitation, addressing PTSD, helping them repair their lives, and building their future.

He stated, “That is why I am proud to support FIDF and to fund an IMPACT! Scholarship, enabling a combat veteran in financial need to pursue higher education.” As his late grandmother, Helen Weingarten, taught him, “Education is forever. No matter what they take from you, they can never take your education and the knowledge in your head.”

Together, these experiences led to the same conclusion: the modern-day miracle that is Israel exists because of the IDF. Levy continued, “As partners in this miracle, it is our duty to ensure the wellbeing of Israel’s soldiers — physically, mentally, and emotionally.”

The local FIDF chapter has seen tremendous growth and success in recent years, and Levy and Perl are committed to expanding its reach and strengthening its impact. They are dedicated to growing a broader, more engaged community of IDF supporters.

Perl concluded, “Let’s honor the past, support the present, and safeguard the future of the Jewish people.”