Everyone who knows Jonathan Fader heard about his conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu.
It was covered in the Jerusalem Post and the former Richmond, B.C., resident's face was all over Israeli television.
His friends posted messages on his Facebook wall and soon there was a picture of the camouflaged and smiling Fader standing in front of the Israeli prime minister.
His mom? She read about it on Facebook, too.
"It's definitely going to be a moment in life that I'll always remember," Fader said in a telephone interview with CTV.ca from the kibbutz he lives on southeast of Haifa, recalling the meeting that resulted in an unexpected ticket home to Canada.
It all transpired Tuesday when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited an Israeli Defense Forces training exercise.
The military picked the two closest soldiers to have a chat with the prime minister. That turned out to be Fader and another officer.
"It was very overwhelming," said Fader, who was among a throng of reporters and security guards as he spoke with Netanyahu.
In a short chat in Hebrew -- a language Fader is still learning -- the prime minister asked him where he was from.
When Netanyahu heard he was from Canada, he mentioned that he was "going there next week."
Then he asked if Fader wanted a lift home.
"I thought he was joking," said Fader.
But he wasn't.
A ride on ‘the Air Force One of Israel'
Back home in B.C., his friend Jon Samuel said he was surprised to see pictures of Fader standing face-to-face with Netanyahu.
"It's great that he got to meet the prime minister," Samuel told CTV.ca in a brief telephone interview on Friday.
When the prime minister leaves for Ottawa later this month, Fader will be on what he describes as "the Air Force One of Israel."
Fader has been told that they will be making a stopover in Paris for one day, which is just another bonus for the soon-to-be 23-year-old who has never before visited the famous city.
He doesn't have an itinerary yet, but he's been given the general details.
In the army, you tend to be told things "at the last minute," Fader said.
It's the first furlough -- or leave -- he'll have taken since joining the Israeli army in December.
So far, he's completed his four months of basic training and has passed the exam to be a sharpshooter in the Givati Brigade -- a part of the Israeli ground forces that specializes in sea-to-land operations.
He's still training and Fader expects he'll eventually be put on the front lines, likely on guard duty somewhere along the Gaza Border.
"That'll be my life," said Fader, who once considered serving in the Canadian Forces before signing up with the IDF.
It's a two-year commitment that could lead to more opportunities in the military if he finds it to his liking.
In Israel, soccer is hot, hockey is not
While he's met a few Canadians serving alongside him in the IDF, Fader has been away from his family for about a year and is admittedly "very, very homesick."
His sister lives in Edmonton and his parents are still back in B.C., along with some friends he's looking forward to meeting up with.
"I'm really happy to be going home for a vacation," said Fader.
He misses watching mixed-martial arts and hockey, which is hard to follow when you are involved in army training and don't have access to the Internet.
But he's still managing to keep up with his hometown hockey team.
"I was a little upset that the Canucks lost to the Blackhawks for the second year in a row," he said.
Samuel said Fader was sent a care package a few months ago, that included some Canucks memorabilia to put up on his wall.
Back when his buddy was in B.C., they used to "watch the games religiously," Samuel said.
As for Fader's upcoming flight with Netanyahu, the B.C.-bred hockey fan said he isn't nervous about making conversation with an ex-commando who has twice been elected as Israel's leader.
"I'm not the kind of guy that plans these kinds of things," said Fader. "I'm just going to wing it."
