Published: 7 January 2022
Last updated: 4 March 2024
NOMI KALTMANN meets Moti Kahana, whose extraordinary success in organising the rescue of people trapped in dangerous Middle-Eastern countries has made him a figure of legend
WHEN MOTI KAHANA describes himself as a “humble American-Israeli farmer living a quiet life in New Jersey”, you can almost believe him.
As he speaks to me on the phone while walking his dog Lafayette in Randolph, New Jersey, at times interrupting our conversation to yell at his dog not to chase the chickens, his claim is almost plausible.
However, the multitude of stories written about extraordinary rescues he has coordinated over the years - from dangerous countries such as Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan - Kahana’s description of himself seems unlikely.
“Up until a few years ago, I was involved in business my whole life and I had nothing to do with politics,” he says. “I am an Israeli, I used to vote Likud and I grew up in a poor neighborhood in Jerusalem, where everyone was a fan of Beitar Yerushalayim [an Israeli football team].”
Kahana, now 53, served in the Israeli air force, before moving to the United States around 30 years ago. Like so many Israelis before him, he arrived armed with spades of Israeli chutzpah and a desire to create an American dream. Kahana says he originally went for a 10-day visit but liked it so much he decided to stay.
“I am an out of the box kind of a guy, and on a personal level, I always need a challenge or problem to work on,” he says.
In America Kahana founded the rent2buy car rental company, which became extremely successful.
“When I started my business, I thought about how I could be better than other existing car rental companies…I created systems that recycled the gasoline, I created a novel idea of having video camera inspection systems, and I started to rent cars to people under 21 years of age to create new business opportunities.”
