Tall, lanky, bespectacled, wearing an old rusty British helmet, riding a muddy mule, using a broomstick as a goad, he indeed looks like Don Quixote—only a lot younger.
He impulsively volunteers to fight in the 1947–1949 Palestine war and is assigned as driver and aide-de-camp to Zev Barak, who in turn is aide and liaison to Mickey Marcus.
A massacre is prevented by the presence of British officers and of the Red Cross, but all the synagogues of the Old City are blown up and destroyed by the Arab Legion.
Over the next few years, Joseph grows from tall and lanky to big and muscular, and becomes a member of Israel's most distinguished elite combat unit, the Paratroopers Brigade.
He performs acts of great heroism during the 1956 war, in which Israel clears the Sinai of Palestinian terrorists and Egyptian armies, and restores freedom of navigation through the Gulf of Aqaba.
In The Glory, sequel to The Hope, Yossi is Operations Officer for Northern Command, and his advice is sought by Moshe Dayan.
In this position, Kishote is largely responsible for the success of the Israeli crossing of the Suez Canal into Africa, which turns the tide of the Yom Kippur War.
Joseph Blumenthal/Yossi Nitzan is a Don Quixote who does not get walloped by windmills, but instead defeats the Dragons and Giants, delivers his people and nation, and wins the heart of the virtuous and beautiful lady he loves, and marries her.