The Kishon affair broke into the public consciousness in 2000, after an article was published in the media describing the cancer morbidity of 13th Squadron fighters and divers from the Yaltam (Underwater Workers Unit) who dived at various times during their service in the Kishon port.
Kishon Port is a small port at the eastern end of Haifa Bay, and over the years it has been extremely polluted. The Kishon port that spilled in the port area drained industrial sewage from several plants in its vicinity, including petrochemical plants. Anyone who swam or dived in Kishon could smell the filth that was in the water. Personally, as a young officer, I had the dubious honor of diving into the waters of the Kishon Port when our vessels docked in it, as part of rigging tests (an underwater test to detect mines). The water was very cloudy, and it was difficult to see details even with a flashlight. The smell was terrible, and after the dive it was very difficult to remove the layer of dirt from the body. In those days naval units trained and operated in the Kishon port, and there was little awareness of water pollution and the possibility that it would harm people’s health.
The emergence of malignant diseases among a large number of fighters, all of whom have dived and trained in the polluted Kishon waters, has led to the hypothesis that overexposure to murky water is the cause of the proliferation of diseases. In 2000, after the media exposure, then-Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz decided to set up a commission of inquiry headed by retired Judge Shamgar and two other senior medical professionals to investigate the phenomenon. The committee interviewed dozens of people, including those who had fallen ill and were already in poor medical condition, as well as experts in the field. Without going into the details of the committee's work, it recommended that all diving or swimming activities in the Kishon River area be stopped immediately, and in 2003 it published its conclusions. The committee was unable to prove a direct connection between the activities of the fighters in Kishon and their illness, among other things in light of the paucity of research on the subject, but in light of the tests it conducted, it could not rule out the connection between the two.
Judge Shamgar, who examined the details as a jurist, argued that the unusual number of patients was sufficient to confirm the circumstantial connection between the activity in Kishon and the fighters' illness. The committee's recommendation was that although no medical scientific connection has been established between the fighters' illness and their activities in Kishon, it is advisable to recognize all those exposed to the Kishon waters as injured during their service, and to provide them with treatment by the Ministry of Defense. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz adopted the committee's conclusions, and Defense Ministry Director General Amos Yaron determined in a discussion in which I participated as a naval chief of staff the procedures for recognizing casualties.
In 2009, apparently in view of the number of casualties and the high cost of the treatments, Defense Minister Ehud Barak decided to establish a committee headed by Prof. Shani, which will re-examine the recognition of Kishon victims.
The Shani Committee, which was established as a medical committee, did not find in its conclusions submitted in 2010 a direct link between patients and their activities in the past, just like the Shamgar Committee.
As a result, treatment for various cancers was reduced, and in fact severely affected sick fighters, some on their deathbeds.
The committee's conclusions did not renew anything, but led to a U-turn of the system and a turning back to fighters valued by the Shamgar Commission.
The establishment of a second committee, which found, just like the Shamgar committee, that it was not possible to establish a scientific connection between diving in Kishon and diseases, did not renew anything - the Shamgar committee also came to the same conclusion.
But the Shamgar Commission chose to recognize the values of the fighters, who acted on orders and fell ill years later.
The State of Israel is committed to its fighters.
The neglect of the sick fighters and their families is in fact a serious violation of IDF values and the norms and values on which IDF fighters and their commanders are educated.
It is not necessary to mention the act of Itzik Saidian to illustrate the frustration of the sick, widowed and orphaned warriors, and of the families, who are not recognized.
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz must clearly state the State of Israel's commitment to its fighters wherever they are, who acted in accordance with an ordinance and today need the blue and the disabled to support the system.
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