Alon Kaminer, an Israeli Navy sailor who was critically wounded at the beginning of the War of Redemption, graduated on Wednesday with a bachelor’s degree with honors in Industrial Engineering and Management at Tel Aviv University, the school said.
Kaminer, 28, a reservist in the Israeli Navy’s elite force protection and harbor security Snapir Unit, was injured a week after the war broke on Oct. 7, 2023, by an explosive device in Israel’s north, losing two hands, a leg and an eye.
Describing his journey toward his graduation ceremony, he was cited by TAU as saying, “Right after I was injured, I made a conscious decision that no matter what happened, I would keep moving forward.
“Admittedly, I did not fully understand what that would entail. I remember how, while I was still in hospital, a friend told me that my studies had been canceled to save me the needless expense. Lying in bed, unable to move, I said that this was totally unacceptable to me. I told him to ask for the cancellation to be reversed right away, and that’s exactly what happened. In fact, even after the severe injury, I never stopped studying for a moment. I studied in intensive care, during rehabilitation in the U.S., and while being fitted with prostheses,” he said.
Professor Noam Eliaz, dean of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering at TAU, praised “Alon’s heroic story. ... Alon is a source of inspiration for us all, a person who chose hope over despair. The fact that he has completed his studies in Industrial Engineering and Management, and is graduating with honors, attests to his extraordinary strength of spirit, determination and willpower.”
Kaminer further said in the statement, “I proved to myself, and I hope to others as well, that where there is a will there is a way. A will stronger than steel, combined with a flexible mind that adapts itself to change. ... Never stop believing, not for a single moment. And yes, if you truly want something, the sky is the limit!”
