Commendable grades have always provoked quite a bit of criticism.
Not only from the very question of what extraordinary bravery and courage are, and under what circumstances it is appropriate to recognize them, but for more mundane reasons: jealousy between units and people, and sometimes even an attempt to cover up faults and omissions with the help of the tsalachs.
The receivers of the talesh are not party to this criticism, and they shouldn't be: they fulfilled their duty, often under fire and at the risk of their lives. The determination of whether their actions deserve the talesh - and to what degree - is not theirs.
It is reserved for the most senior of them, who are supposed to look at the activity from the outside (as much as possible) and determine how to properly cherish it.
Golani and Dvedvan patrol activity in the "Breakwater" operation // Photo: IDF spokesman
Over the years, it has often been argued that the TLSs are cheap. In the distant past, a patrol of the General Staff, for example, received a unit TLS for almost every special operation it carried out. Apparently, this made sense: each operation of the unit was truly unique and ground-breaking, and at a high level of risk Especially. But there was also quite a bit of intra-organizational politics in this, which took advantage of proximity to the top and ruling in order to make sure that it was clear who was the best.
In the past, medals were awarded mainly in wars, in which there were real, heroic displays of bravery, when
the fate of the country was at stake and not as a pawn. The world has changed since then, and the era of great wars is over. Their place has been taken by the war on terror - a Sisyphean struggle that has no beginning and has no End, but the conditions in it are also completely different.
Farouk Salma, the terrorist who was killed in Jenin (right), next to the commander of the Gov Aryot, and Vodi al-Hoch, who was killed in October, photo: Arab Networks
Israel is no longer the small country that is attacked by armies many times larger than it, but the dominant factor on the ground that almost always determines the timing and nature of the fighting - and its results.
Therefore, the discussion that developed yesterday around the issue of the military uniforms that the IDF decided to award to the units that excelled in the fight against terrorism as part of Operation "Breaking the Waves" is very legitimate.
It is appropriate to ask whether it is even correct to grant a TL, and whether its granting is not intended to glorify the givers rather than the receivers.
It is right to wonder why these four units were chosen - the IMM and the Golani patrol (who will receive the rank of chief of staff), Dovdvan and the undercover unit of the Yosh (who will receive the rank of general). There is no doubt that these are excellent units, with brave fighters, but the decoration Highlighting those who do not accept: dozens of "simple" battalions, which carry out daily activities devoid of glory, thanks to which the citizens of Israel can sleep peacefully at night.
The late Navy SEAL Noam Raz, photo: Police Spokesperson
The battalions of the Kafir Brigade or the Home Front Command carry out activities in Tash in Yosh for 9 months of the year.
Since the wave of terrorism broke out, they have been blocking the entry of unauthorized Palestinians into Israel with their bodies.
They do so with less risk than in a live fire operation in the Jenin refugee camp or in the Kasbah of Nablus, but also in much worse conditions: food, equipment, going home - and now also recognition.
A motivational crisis
The IDF is in a crisis of motivation and trust, the way to restore it is certainly not through a semi-official announcement of positions in the army. Instead of the military blessing those who got it, they are seen as cursing those who didn't.
Nothing would have been deducted from the units that would receive the TLS without it; the units that did not receive it could have received a significant boost thanks to it. This is a colossal miss, which should be addressed: TLS are always awarded after the war, not during it.
Since the current wave of terrorism has not yet been resolved, why and to whom was it in such a hurry to distribute them precisely now?
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