A treasure fell into Jacky Hogi's hands: a diary written by an Egyptian soldier and found on a Chinese farm during the Yom Kippur War. The diary is written with enormous talent, and is an artistic masterpiece, since among the lists describing the wait for the war and the fear of the battles, as well asThe soul of the soldier is scattered with beautiful illustrations of the young and talented Egyptian. IDF soldiers at the Chinese farm found the diary and one of them, a reservist from Jerusalem who himself wrote a personal diary during the war, took it home and kept it next to his own diary.
The core of the beautiful and unique book before you is the memories of the two soldiers - the Egyptian and the Israeli - who served on both sides of the barricade in that war. But that's not the whole story. At the request of the Israeli soldier, the author went on a search for the Egyptian writer. All he knew about him was his first name and city of residence. At the end of the mission, another story will be opened to him - and to us - which flickers under the pages of the diary, giving them a new meaning.
Jacky Hogi, a journalist and publicist, is the Arab affairs reporter for Gali IDF and a weekly columnist in Maariv's weekend issue. His first book Alef Laila.com was translated into Arabic, aroused curiosity on both sides of the border and won literary awards.
"A human creation, exciting, expanding mind and heart. The sections of the diaries are woven into a wide canvas, spanning years and cultures, written in fine Hebrew and decorated with linguistic arabesques that turn words into pictures, and war and loss - into hope and faith in man. I read with bated breath, discovered worlds and was very excited." Tali Lipkin-Shahak
"I don't remember ever being exposed to such an authentic and fascinating testimony of those who fought against us. An Egyptian soldier, a man, expresses himself in a rare way with words and illustrations, not to please Egypt officially but to convey what he felt at every moment on the front. Jacky Hogi does a good job of giving the diary sections the fascinating context of those days." I'm with Engel
