If we want people to have a better understanding of Israel, we need to share its stories.
This was the message from broadcaster Rob Rinder, who said that one of the most positive stories to come out of Israel was the work of the Israel Guide Dog Centre, which serves the 24,000 people in the country who are blind or visually impaired.
Speaking at an event for the UK fundraising arm in Finchley, north-west London, the TV personality told the audience : “One of the challenges we have faced this dark year has been teaching people who we are in a world which increasingly doesn’t want to hear.”
Rinder said that instead of saying: “Here are the facts”, we should say: “’Let me tell you a story. This is the story of what the Israel Guide Dog Centre does. [These dogs] teach the world what our values are.’
“By enabling resilience, freedom and independence to people from across the political, religious and racial divide, the centre is all that is good about our wonderful state of Israel.”
The IGDC, south of Tel Aviv, was founded in 1991 to support people who are blind, visually impaired and disabled. As well as training guide dogs, the centre also teaches dogs how to support veterans and civilians suffering from PTSD and how to offer emotional support to children with autism.
In Israel, 15 per cent of soldiers injured in the current conflict have suffered vision-related injuries.
Dani's guide dog Rolly at a fundraiser for the Israel Guide Dog Centre UK
Since October 7, more than 5,000 soldiers have been diagnosed with PTSD, as well as many people from the kibbutzim which came under attack from Hamas terrorists and survivors of the Nova music festival.
Dani Layani, who was visiting from Israel with his guide dog, Rolly, lost his sight 40 years ago fighting in Lebanon, when a bomb exploded nearby. He spent three months in hospital, but doctors were unable to save his sight.
Now in his 50s, Dani said: “At the start, it was very hard. I just couldn’t accept the blindness. I had great hopes of having surgery and getting my sight back.”
After coming to the realisation that his vision wouldn’t return, he resolved “to continue my life”, telling the audience: “I didn’t want to give up. I thought: ‘What more can I do for society in Israel?’ So, I learnt braille and how to use a white cane.’”
But it was only when he got his first guide dog three years later that he rediscovered his independence. “Until then, I was always being guided by someone. When I took a bus for the first time with a guide dog, I felt freedom. I do everything I can by myself. I use the bus and the tram. I collect the grandkids from school and go for ice-cream.”
An avid runner, cyclist and skier, Dani went on to take a master’s and work in the office of the Israeli prime minister. He later became a social worker, supporting war veterans.
Rob Rinder with Dani Layani (centre) and his guide dog Rolly, Lisa Haet Baron (third from left) and the IGDC UK's trustees (Photo: Israel Guide Dogs UK)
Dani paid tribute to Martin Segal, the executive director of the Israel Guide Dog Centre UK, who passed away in January, aged 58. “I was in the UK a few years ago and I met Martin. I felt a special connection with him and wanted to come back here to think about Martin and what he did for the centre.”
The only internationally accredited guide dog programme in Israel and the Middle East and a member of the International Guide Dog Federation, the centre supports people of all faiths and backgrounds. “Blindness doesn’t discriminate,” said Lisa Baron Haet, the charity’s international liaison, who had also flown in from Israel.
Martin Segal with a puppy at the Israel Guide Dog Centre
The centre’s dogs are currently supporting nearly 50 people who have PTSD, she said. “Nightmares go away or become less frequent as their dog is sleeping with them. One person who hadn’t been out for a year started to go out. Another client managed to go to a café and their next goal is to go to the beach.”
Rinder, who was presented with a certificate for a puppy sponsored in memory of Martin, said: “More than anything else, these guide dogs represent life, Chai, simcha. They are the difference between joy and despair.”
Chair Jon Benjamin called on supporters to consider sponsoring a puppy, promising them that they would receive regular “pupdates”. He said: “If you want to help people who are damaged or have trauma, this is wonderful way to do it.”
The £15,000 raised from the event will go towards funding a section of the new veterinary centre at the IGDC in memory of Martin.
Speaking afterwards to the JC, Martin’s wife Rebecca said: “It’s been nearly a year since my darling Martin passed away. I remember so clearly sitting at home with him last year whilst the event that he’d organised took place in his absence, and us sitting together whilst he was screened live to the function room to make his speech to everybody, both of us knowing but not saying that this was most likely the last charity event he would be organising and taking part in.”
Commenting on Wednesday’s fundraiser, she added: “Martin would have been so proud of how well the team performed last night and how his legacy is continuing. The room was filled to the brim with IGDC supporters and donors, who are also passionate about the charity and Israel, and there was an incredible vibe in the room, which was made even more special by the presence of our wonderful partnership, who came over from Israel – Dani and Rolly – along with Lisa Baron Haet, and our very special guest, Rob Rinder.”
The evening closed with singing from the Immanuel College primary school choir, ending with the Hatikvah.
