Celebrity bodyguards join Israel's war against Hamas
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They’ve served big stars; now they’re serving their country.
After news that Taylor Swift’s bodyguard reportedly flew home to Israel to fight with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Hamas, The Post has learned that he’s not the only celeb bodyguard to do so.
Oded Krashinsky, who has protected celebrities like Nicole Kidman, flew from Los Angeles to Israel to help train IDF soldiers and kibbutz members in Northern Israel.
“I came here to help my unit. The morale is tense. The main threat is invasion — we have to deflect it, fight it, and protect against it,” the 54-year-old head of Los Angeles-based Advanced Security Concepts told The Post.
Krashinsky, a veteran lieutenant in an IDF secret service special operations unit, added: “I am who I am because I came from here. At the end of the day, it’s about experience, decision-making, tactics, and leadership — that’s what I felt I could bring and that’s what I do now.”
IDF-trained security guards have long been a high priority for big stars.
“The security bodyguard community in Hollywood since the ’70s saw an influx of Israeli combat veterans coming to Los Angeles,” Aaron Cohen — an Israeli special operations vet who served in the IDF in the late 1990s and more recently worked with Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry — told The Post.
One of the pioneers, Cohen noted, was Elizabeth Taylor’s late bodyguard Moshe Alon who built a security company hiring Israeli security service members for Hollywood stars.
Cohen added that now, “There’s a lot of them going back [to Israel to fight]. These guys are very deeply connected.”
It was revealed Monday that Swift’s security guard had also returned to Israel to join the fight against Hamas.
The man, whose name is not confirmed but who went viral during Swift’s Eras Tour, said he “couldn’t stand by while families were slaughtered and burned alive in their homes,” Eran Swisa of Israel Hayom news reported.
The bodyguard told Swisa, in a statement to Variety, that he lived on an Israeli kibbutz before moving to America, calling his stint with the “Anti-Hero” singer his “dream job.” He said he couldn’t stand by while victims in Israel were murdered “just for being Jewish or for being Israelis.”
Krashinsky feels the same. The father of two was born and raised on a kibbutz in Northern Israel before working for more than 30 years in the US as a security consultant for some of Hollywood’s biggest celebrities.
“It’s extremely challenging and you have to be very creative,” he said of rejoining IDF. “We’re expecting not just raids — we’re about to be dealt with very determined and powerful fighters.”
Krashinsky said he’s implementing defensive tactics and training, including plans for combat to protect against invasion, and assigning soldiers to posts like snipers and medics.
“We’re putting protocol and procedures in place for safety and shelter. There’s a lot of strategic decision,” he added. “We are well prepared right now. Everyone understands that they have to give their all.”
Krashinsky said his celebrity clients, including Kidman, have sent well wishes for his safety.
“Some clients are like my family — I’ve worked with them for 15 more years. They call and they text,” he said.
As for Cohen, he has been getting calls about counterterrorism from Los Angeles law enforcement.
“I just got a call from a SWAT team in Los Angeles today,” he told The Post Monday. “Once Hamas conducted that terrorist attack on the 7th, I immediately reactivated my counterterrorist-focused course … a method that Israel developed in the late ’70s to maximize safety.”
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