Every year, on the eve of Independence Day, I go through the speeches of our leaders in a variety of ceremonies, and examine what spaces they have chosen to mention on the various occasions that the days of remembrance and independence invite them to.
This year, for example, the prime minister chose to name his fellow arms from southern Lebanon.
Even if it was intended to teach advocacy about his government, it was an important message: giving meaning to their deaths.
Bennett emphasized that night after night they looked at the lights of Kiryat Shmona and knew why they were there.
Various leaders - ministers as mayors - mentioned their "spaces" and promoted them to the forefront of public memory.
I - for 22 years - have been missing one space: Madhat Yosef.
I would like to suggest that at the beginning of a new year of independence, led by a surprising government of change, it is time for Madhat's name to become part of consciousness.
On October 1, 2000, Madhat Yosef was caught on security guard at Yosef's grave alongside a handful of soldiers, who were astonished that thousands of armed Palestinians, including snipers from the PA's police forces, raided the site, shot at him and lynched them.
This was when senior IDF officials, including Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, Commander-in-Chief Yitzhak Eitan, Commander of the Judea and Samaria Division Bnei Gantz and GSS Chief Avi Dichter, were found 800 meters away, at the Tel a-Ras lookout.
They watched the terrifying spectacle, and together with Prime Minister Ehud Barak preferred not to use the "striped shirt" - which was the battle procedure for rescuing besieged soldiers from the grave, a procedure that involved tanks and helicopters, in order not to endanger soldiers' lives, Unnecessary for them.As crazy as it sounds, they preferred to entrust the rescue to Jibril Rajoub, commander of the Palestinian counterterrorism force. , Barely breathing.Jibril did not come, nor did he intend to come, and Madhat died of his wounds.
The event heralded the establishment of the "new IDF": an "small and smart" IDF, an "inclusive IDF", an IDF that avoids ground entry, the IDF that takes "outsourcing" not only in the field of food or vehicle repair but Even in the field of warfare - even if it is a matter of entrusting the rescue of its fighters to an enemy force. As such, Madhat is a space that represents the national situation. Many leaders have spoken in ceremonies about their lesson:
Well - to that end, the story of Madhat's fall must be turned into a battle legacy.
Not to send an accusing finger at the decision-makers of the time, nor to make them hateful.
Leaders' decisions, even if shocking and inconceivable, are a representation of social moods.
The generals who abandoned Madhat to his death represented patterns that were greater than them.
But following the commemoration of Madhat, we will be able to hold a vital public debate: Have these lost thought patterns remained in the IDF operating mechanism? Madhat Yosef is still waiting to be rescued from the abyss of bereavement unknown to him.
The State of Israel needs rescue.
Were we wrong?
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