The Yom Kippur War captured Amiram Halevi - then a 29-year-old reservist in the 582nd Paratroopers Regiment, and now chairman of the Basketball Association - a week after completing an exhausting 40 days of mine clearance in Jerusalem, in the area where the Ramot neighborhood was later built.
In the evening of Yom Kippur, he jumped with his friends to the base.
"There was a big mess," he says in a conversation with "Israel Today."
"A lot of guys who had already retired from the reserve came to help in the war, and there was a lack of a lot of equipment. In the end we got organized, got on buses and went to the Galilee, with the regular force of paratroopers fighting bloody battles with the Syrian armor."
A few days later, Major General Ariel Sharon told the company commanders to go south, and within a short time, Halevy and his friends stumbled upon two events that shaped the war.
"The day of the canal's success has come. We have reached a central junction through which it was supposed to be successful. There was a great battle of the armored and of the Shaked Regiment against the Egyptians on the junction. Many of our tanks and vehicles were hit, and we could not advance.
"So we were told to turn back, and it turned out that forces were needed at the Chinese farm. On the way to the farm we saw our tanks burning with fire, but still did not understand what awaited us. At the end we managed to move on. , Who sat in a higher place and just massacred us. It was the first night in the battle on the farm. We had quite a few casualties, and I too felt the death in front of my eyes.
Credit: Yossi Greenberg,
"In the middle of the fighting, a shell hit the caterpillar where I was.
It hit the bottom of the chain, so we went down and ran to the ditch at the side of the road.
After 30-20 seconds he hit another shell vessel and burned it completely.
If we had not left on time - not sure I would have been here to talk to you.
We retreated back to the base, and when we arrived the regular paratrooper of the paratroopers said they were heading towards the farm.
Our battalion commander tried to explain that it was a big mistake to go there like that, but they did not listen. In the evening they went and abducted dozens of people killed in that famous battle.
"We did not have time to rest because already that night we crossed the canal. On the way there we passed through the 'courtyard of death' and saw long rows of corpses, with the blankets with the shoes sticking out. This is a picture that does not cross my mind to this day.
"But you do not have time to stop and digest what you see. We continued and crossed the canal to the other side under heavy shelling. We fought in the Ismailia area, destroyed anti-missile bases in the Fayed area, and participated in several more battles. I was all 197 consecutive days in the reserve. I started the war as a sergeant, and I ended the war as a lieutenant colonel because our commanders were killed - the lieutenant colonel was killed and the lieutenant colonel was killed.
So the guys asked me to manage the company or what was left of it (about 40 soldiers) until they sent replacement officers. "
"Let's not experience it anymore"
Halevy, who carries with him the memories of the war, does not often tell what he went through.
This is the first time he shares his personal experiences outside of family and close friends, and he says he does so because "people today do not know enough about the war, and there is a need to tell. War is a terrible thing and people do not understand how much. We came out of the difficult situation only The simple soldiers who fought to the last drop of blood.
"During the battles I carried the bodies of friends I had known for years, and most of them were fathers to children. There is no one that has not affected his life. It gives its signals to this day and shapes your life. I hope we do not experience it again."
Closing the circle in Hungary
Halevy's connection with basketball began even before the war.
In 1963, as a physical education student at Wingate College, he was invited to attend a basketball refereeing course.
Until 1980 he refereed in all leagues, and after retiring from judging he was appointed a member of the board of the Basketball Association and the various committees.
At the same time, he served for years as director of the sports department in the Jezreel Valley ("Today there are about 50 basketball teams registered in the association, and that makes me very proud"), and in 2014 he was appointed chairman of the association, a position he works to this day.
Halevi.
"War is a terrible thing", Photo: Alan Schieber,
"I want to end with a personal story," he asks. "A few weeks ago we went to Hungary for a 3X3 tournament with the Israeli team, and we had to play against Egypt. The night before the game, the Egyptians announced that they were not going to play. Appeared.
When they came on the field and I was in the stands, I felt that there was a closing circle for me. "