Rami Matan said that as they saved the country from an external enemy he is mobilizing to save it from an internal enemy • This is a crossing of a red line • Dror Zoref responds to a protest leader in Balfour
One of the protests in Balfour in recent weeks
Photo:
Oren Ben Hakon
All my years I have not been involved in politics. Touching the field is a very unusual act for me. Friends and family advised me not to do so, but after reading the interview with Rami Matan, one of the heroes of the Chinese farm battles and one of the leaders of the protests in Balfour, I feel I can no longer remain silent.
I too, like many others, took part in the battles of the Chinese farm. I was the intelligence officer of the late Uzi Yairi, the paratroopers' brigade commander in the war. I saw things with my own eyes from the line of contact, the smoky tanks. These are mirrors that cannot be forgotten. The fierce warriors, who sacrificed their lives and blood for the country, are holy to me. And when their memory is used as a card in a political game - it is an abomination. I have no finer words.
Photo: Yoni Rickner
I salute Remy for his heroic deeds in the war. But wonder: who put his name to speak on behalf of the fallen? I have been in contact for years with Maj. Gen. (Res.) Itzik Mordechai, who was an 890th Battalion commander in the battle, and his operations officer in the battle, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Giora Island, and I never knew what their political views were. I did not ask and it did not interest me. As for many others, who are my friends to this day.This is a brotherhood of warriors - we did not deal with these issues because we were united in one goal: to protect and preserve the security and survival of the country.
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I am convinced that among the fighters who fought in the battles were those who disagreed with the policy of the Golda Meir government. So what? They decided they would not go to war from which they might not return? This is the legitimate Israeli government, and it has sent them where it has sent, and they are going.
Rami Matan talks about the "values" of his friends who were killed. I do not know and Matan does not know what their values are on the political issue. They had one supreme value - the existence of the State of Israel, and for its sake it is worth sacrificing life. How does Rami Matan know the values of his friends who were killed? "What can I tell them now," he asks. He should tell them one thing: "I salute you for your sacrifice for the country, the people and the homeland." that's it.
Matan goes on to say that just as they then saved the country from the ruin of an external enemy, so today he is mobilizing to save it from an internal enemy. To me, this is an extreme and boundless statement. How come these comparisons between an elected government of the state and an enemy who wanted to destroy us? It is an unprecedented crossing of a red line, painted in the blood of the fallen. This line is by no means crossed. By what right does he speak on behalf of the dead?
If there is a drop of honesty in him, Rami Matan should do one thing - get up and say "I was wrong in my statements and I apologize". The blood of the fallen cries out from the ground.
Dror Zoref was an operations officer in the battles of the Chinese farm