At the age of 48, Ofira Zanzani fulfilled a dream she thought she had lost for years.
Once a week she takes the uniform out of the closet, gets dressed and goes to the training base of the Golani Brigade together with her trainees who face limitations.
Thirty years after refusing to recruit her like all her friends because of a disability that today would have been considered almost minor, she is serving in the IDF.
"I was born with cerebral palsy," says Zanzani. As a result of cerebral palsy, her leg was injured and she still faces the limitation. But at the same time she grew up like all her friends and everything was as usual, until she came to the army. "At the age of 18 I got the slap in the face from life. In the second order, where I performed medical tests they let me sign a form and I found out in retrospect that it was exempt from service. It collapsed me physically and mentally." Ofira was required to write a volunteer letter, but for the young woman it was like signing a stigma, admitting that she was different. "I was asked to write that I wanted to volunteer but in other words it was an admission that I was not like everyone else - I was not able to do such a thing."
For two years, while all her friends were in the IDF, she did nothing. I internalized that if the army did not accept me - no one would accept me. This perception kept me going until the age of 38. "In previous years, she managed to marry Assaf, a police officer in the Israel Police, and raise two children who have meanwhile completed their military service." When they enlisted, I thought I could digest that the dream was over, but the wound opened again. I was looking for opportunities to volunteer, enlist, do something. I felt that they had marked me, that I was not like everyone else. "But at this point Ofira began to realize that maybe the dream would not come true." I was told that I was late for the train, that I was old, that nothing could be done. I almost gave up. "
But then the turning point occurred.
Fanya Hazan, a social worker in the "Big in Uniform" program, which was founded with the aim of integrating boys with disabilities into the IDF and thus bringing them into Israeli society, turned to Ofira, whom she knew from a joint course they did together at the Equality Commission for Women with Disabilities. "Zanzani, who works in the village of Idud in Netanya, recreates a unique sheltered housing that provides people with disabilities with employment and housing opportunities.
Ofira, commander of the Golani Brigade, Lt. Col. Shimon Siso (center) and Kobi on the left, in uniform
Hazan hurried to check with Lt. Col. (Res.) Kobi Malka, who heads the "Big in Uniform" program, to see if this was possible and the latter answered in the affirmative. Many of the participants in the program are not actual soldiers, but volunteers in uniform, "On the eve of Memorial Day, her face sent me the forms, and on Independence Day I returned them full to her. What I could not do at the age of 18 I did at the age of 48, "says the excited Ofira.
Malka says that she received the uniform in a surprising ceremony that she did not expect. "We met at the logistics complex at the Baha'i - commanders, soldiers and volunteers of 'big in uniform'. Ofira entered the compound with everyone and we surprised her. We called her to come to us and held a short ceremony. We gave her a uniform, a disk, a unit badge. She was excited and we are with her. She got out, put on a uniform, and returned with excited and hesitant steps to the compound. She began to cry happily. "After a 30-year longing to put on a uniform and donate to the state, and we in the uniforms and at the Golani Hospital are happy that we were able to fulfill her personal dream. It is simply huge."
A few days later, four months ago, Ofira showed up for the first time in uniform in the logistics complex of BA Golani together with young people from the Beit Eckstein youth village, boys and girls facing developmental delays and other challenges, and began the new job - dressed like the other soldiers. "I did not stop crying.
It was so exciting, "she recalls." I did a recruiting party, I refused to give it up.
I could not miss it.
I, who lived in denial with the limitation, realized after years that this was the best gift I could have received.
I accompany these guys, realize my purpose in life, accompany people who live with some limitation.
And I, at last, have gained the sense of belonging that I have been missing for years, since the age of 18. "
Last week, a particularly exciting ceremony was held at Golani Hospital, when Ofira and her trainees received volunteer certificates, similar to enlistment certificates, and she received further reinforcement to close the circle. 30 years after she failed to enter the IDF, she is now like everyone else.