The extraordinary life story of Major General (Res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive at The Jewish Agency for Israel, is recounted in a new documentary, “From October 6 To October 7.” The film made its international premiere during the 37th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles on February 15th, with a packed theater, followed by a Q&A featuring Almog, in an event sponsored by The Jewish Agency.
As The Jewish Agency’s Chairman of the Executive, Almog has made clear that this moment in Israel’s history demands more than remembrance—it demands action. The Jewish Agency, founded to strengthen the bond between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, is leading efforts to support recovery, resilience and Jewish unity in the aftermath of October 7th. Almog, an Israel Prize laureate, has described the organization’s mission as “to reach the heart of every Jew on Earth,” deepening mutual responsibility and ensuring that no Jewish community faces crises alone.
Spanning from the battles during the Yom Kippur War to the horrors of October 7th, 2023, Almog’s biographical story is inseparable from Israel’s modern timeline and the documentary recounts the incredible life of a true leader as he transforms personal loss and sacrifice into a legacy of hope and resilience.
Service, Sacrifice, and Responsibility
Almog was just a young officer when the Yom Kippur War erupted on October 6, 1973. He fought in Sinai while his beloved brother Eran served in the Golan Heights. After the ceasefire, Almog called home, and his mother told him that his brother had been killed in action.
The film lingers with devastating clarity on Almog’s return to the battlefield where his brother died—the smell of burned bodies, the wreckage of the tank, the unbearable knowledge of suffering endured alone. “His last moments were horrible…He stayed in the field for a week,” Almog said of Eran.
Despite the heavy toll war already exacted on his family, Almog went on to serve 34 years in the IDF, surviving hundreds of operations, leading elite missions, and eventually becoming Commander of Israel’s Southern Command (2000-2003).
He recounts holding dying soldiers under fire—among them Alon Levine, a commander shot through the eye while standing beside him during the First Lebanon War, a death Almog still measures with the unanswerable question, “Why him and not me?” In another operation in southern Lebanon, he describes the moment when an ambush erupted around him, and a fellow soldier was killed by a bullet to the heart as Almog led the retreat.
The film makes clear that Almog’s leadership was forged not only through survival but through the accumulating weight of those he could not save, each loss silently shaping the man who would later turn grief into responsibility and action after he experienced the most transformative loss of his life: his son Eran (named after his brother), who died at a young age from Castleman’s disease.
Recognizing that invisible suffering extends far beyond families like his, Almog came to understand that society too often abandons its most vulnerable. Out of this realization came one of his greatest achievements: founding ADI Negev–Nahalat Eran, a rehabilitation village named for his son, built as a sanctuary of dignity and care.
From Trauma to Hope
In 2022, Almog was selected as Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency, dedicating himself to strengthening Jewish peoplehood worldwide. Upon accepting the nomination, Almog offered words that echo the film’s central theme: “By working together, we will ignite flame and pride in our work for a future of hope for future generations.”
Today, his leadership comes at a moment of renewed Israeli devastation and recovery: the ongoing aftermath of the October 7th attacks. Drawing an unspoken line between the surprise of 1973 and the shock of October 7th, 2023, the documentary’s message is clear: Israel’s tragedies do not end, but neither does the Jewish state’s will to rebuild.
