Jonathan 'Yoni' Zagdanski was a 3rd Infantry Division platoon leader of a US army unit that led the invasion into Iraq and captured Baghdad in 2003.

An outstanding public speaker, Yoni will share his experience of the war, the morale of his troops and his first hand interaction with the ‘Iraqi man on the street’. As he took charge of thousands of civilians in an area of Bagdad, Yoni was shocked to hear the irrational beliefs that many educated Iraqi’s have about the Western World and the State of Israel.

Yoni will present us with a unique inside view of the US army operations in Iraq. He will enlighten us on some of his extraordinary experiences and the everyday challenges he faced. In particular, he will describe how serving as a soldier in the war strengthened his Jewish faith and took him on an unexpected journey back to religion.