Amputee Soldier Proposes to Girlfriend on Stage of IDF Gala

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
An Israeli soldier who lost his arm in a Hamas terror attack proposed to his girlfriend from the stage of a Friends of the IDF event in Florida.
Capt. Ziv Shilon proposed on Thursday in front of about 1,000 people at the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ Greater Miami Chapter Solidarity Gala in Hollywood. His girlfriend, Adi Sitbon, said yes.
The theme of the evening, which raised more than $3.3 million, was “Saluting the Women of the IDF.”
“We, the combat soldiers, are not the only ones who are doing a great job, but so are our wives, sisters, mothers and girlfriends who support us and give us the opportunity to serve Israel,” Shilon said. “FIDF says that our job is to protect Israel; their job is to give us the reason.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to ask my girlfriend, Adi, just one question. You are my hope, my rock, and my everything. I wanted to ask you, will you marry me?”
Shilon put a diamond engagement ring on Sitbon’s finger using his prosthesis. The audience cheered and applauded.
Watch a video of the proposal here:
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
