They keep us in the air, at sea and on land - and promise that we will continue to live here together • The commanders and commanders choose what in their eyes is the victory of the IDF • A special project
Photo: IDF Spokesman
The IDF headquarters and commanders, who guard us in the air, at sea and on land and ensure that we continue to live here together, choose what in their eyes is the victory of the People's Army. The special project of "Israel Today" brings you the beautiful Land of Israel.
General Eyal Zamir, Deputy Chief of Staff
Reservists, who in their service clearly express the IDF as the People's Army. An army in which fighters enlist at any time and without prior warning directly from their homes and to protect the country and their families. And the power of the reservists on whom the national ability to withstand an ongoing and multi-arena campaign depends - together, that is the whole of the IDF.
Reservists - the story of a people: "Brothers, heroes of glory" Shmuel Gonen ("Gorodish") called after the Six Day War to his soldiers who fell in battle.
In this brief statement he expressed the great sense of victory alongside the loss and bereavement.
Out of the same grief over the loss of his soldiers and companions along the way he expressed an aspiration for growth and continuity.
A key and inevitable part of the quest for victory and determination lies with the reservists.
We have recently seen the great contribution of the reservists in the campaign in which we took part in the fight against the Corona virus, with thousands of reservists helping to deal with the virus.
This case is another example of the chain of actions for which we as residents of the country owe an unparalleled deep gratitude.
The regular army involves the reserve army.
The two arrays work as one body in order to maintain the security of us all.
Col. Shai Siman Tov, Commander of the Tactical Command College
"Do not conquer the top of the rock - if there is no grave downhill!"
(Shlomo Skolsky).
On the morning of July 4, 1976, at 09:43, the Hercules plane landed at Tel Nof base, carrying 109 hostages of Air France Flight 139, which was on its way from Israel to Paris.
For me, the 3,800 kilometers and the seven-hour flight from Uganda to Israel are the epitome of Zionism.
A journey into the unknown and a great risk out of a sense of shared destiny are the property of a people who will not feel, and will not abandon the fate of his sons.
The heavy price of the fall of the commander of the rescue force from the General Staff patrol, Lt. Gen. Yoni Netanyahu, once again illustrated that a brilliant victory is mixed with a deep loss.
In moments of victory, as well as in the serenity that seems constant - there is the memory of those who fought and sacrificed their lives to allow us to live proudly in our country which is our only home.
"Zionism is an infinite ideal," Benjamin Zeev Herzl wonderfully described the essence of Zionism. Today, as in the past, the statement of the state contract is correct.
The people of Israel were formed in the journey.
A journey full of challenges and obstacles A journey in which he fights against enemies at home and abroad.
A journey in which he maintained his spiritual image and physical existence.
A journey in which he strives to maintain his unity and adhere to his values.
An endless journey that began in Egypt and continues to this day.
My commanders, soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, who are the link in the chain of generations between the past and the future whose purpose is to ensure our existence.
We are proud of our mission and determined to keep our sword when it is needed.
Lt. Col. Dana Ben Ezra, staff commander of the College of Command and Staff
"The woman in Israel bears the supreme responsibility of the state. The responsibility of security. Nablus is one with the man" Ben-Gurion, 1951. My victory takes the form of a strong, uncompromising, responsible woman who shatters stigmas and does not look back.
The victory is expressed in young women who choose to exercise their responsibility to the state.
Choose to stand united with the men, and stand among the fighters for one important and significant goal - a full partnership for the defense of the country.
And not just women, I see the IDF as the people's army, the greatest victory - accepting and integrating the other as an active part of everything.
The IDF is in fact the only place where we meet the people at all ends; the people of the city, the kibbutz and the moshav, from the center and the periphery, without differences in lifestyle and in the variety of religions. We all unite under one common denominator - home protection.
We all get an equal opportunity, each and every one of us has a unique part in this wondrous mosaic, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
I found myself throughout my military service exposed to countless different cultures and backgrounds, revealing to myself my views and background, formulating opinions, learning from every soldier I met and winning many conventions and voices thanks to all of these.
IDF policy should serve as an example for Israeli society - the understanding that the difference between us is not a burden, but a fertile and necessary for growth and improvement, provided we have the willingness to accommodate each other while not taking our eyes off the common goal at all times. Israel's independence.
Only if we exist side by side, in cooperation, will the high, snow-capped mountain peaks dwarf, and we can continue to shatter the stigmas to ensure a much better future for generations to come.
General Tamir Yedai, Commander of the Central Command
"You are our victory over the plague," one of the Holocaust survivors from the Jerusalem residential building told me, during another day in which we acted in an attempt to help in the civilian space.
"All Israel is Arabs," said our sages.
Precisely at a difficult time when the virus was hitting us, we overcame the controversy.
From this seemingly non-trivial place we have discovered connections and people we do not get to meet during our daily lives.
In one siren, sharp and cutting, all the defenses fell, a moment of silence was observed - the hearts united, the disputes disappeared as if they were not.
Who will give and this picture of victory, which expresses the common and unifying, will also accompany us in moments of disagreement, in which we will know how to confront, and at the same time embrace.
Major General Eliezer Toledano, Commander of the Southern Command
"Where the Jewish plow will plow the last furrow, where our border will cross" (Joseph Trumpeldor). A tractor plowing to the last furrow in our fields near the border with the Gaza Strip - this is the picture of victory. This fills my heart.The victory is for the citizens of the western Negev, a spectacular region where settlement thrives beyond any lesson.Every year new families join the cities, moshavim and kibbutzim realizing the vision of the founders.
It's been twenty years since the fence was shot.
They shoot - and we build, grow and educate.
Their leaders try from time to time to instill fear in our communities, and disrupt the routine of our lives, but the line of defense of the State of Israel exists in the resilience of the residents of the Envelope and the Negev and thanks to their strong civic leadership.
From Gaza, hate balloons are launched - in our community we continue to plow, sow and harvest with love. In Gaza, precious concrete is wasted on useless tunnels - in our communities, extensions are being set up with long waiting lists.
Last year, every Friday, the crowd in Gaza was cynically sent to the fence in an attempt to break through it and hit IDF forces defending the border line. With consistent and professional action, with the dedication of IDF commanders and fighters, peace returned.
We do not err in illusions, living in a book that requires resilience and longevity.
Many challenges still lie ahead, we will have a brave arm's length between settlement and the defense establishment because this is the essence of Zionism.
"In the Negev, the people of Israel and its state will be examined," David Ben-Gurion said more than 65 years ago, and today we in the Southern Command join forces with the Southern District of the Israel Police and other security forces and work to provide security to Israeli citizens in the Negev and Arava.
In honor of the 73rd Independence Day of the State of Israel, I undertake, together with the IDF Commanders and its fighters, to continue to fortify the line of defense, to strengthen the security of the Negev and the Arava and the sense of security of the entire region.