Rafi Kotzer

Rafi Kotzer was born in 1924 in Nitra

Rafi Kotzer was born in 1924 in Nitra, Slovakia. At the start of World War II he moved to the Land of Israel with his parents. He joined a youth group at Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan.

He served in the Haganah and was among the first fighters of the Golani Brigade in the War of Independence. He founded the commando platoon of Battalion 12, the first form of the Golani reconnaissance unit, and led it in several battles. Near the end of the war he was badly wounded in the legs near Rafah.

While in the hospital, he and a group of friends set up a committee to help wounded war veterans. In 1949 the Knesset passed a law on disabled veterans, and he came to committee meetings on a stretcher to take part. He was the first chairman of the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization until 1951.

Later he held various roles in the Kibbutz Artzi movement and in the Mapam party, and then worked in management posts. He published a book on the history of the organization. He died in 2005.