A moment before my release from the reserves, the debriefings, the acquittals, and the moment it will take to get used to me again (at home) as the lyrics of the song - this is the time for reflection. The war is not over, only my reserve service is about to end. The danger to the state has not passed, and neither has the need to protect it. The only thing that has changed is the point of view. The reservists who left and left the war return to a different world than the one they knew.
Fighters of the 7th Brigade's combat team and the Givati Brigade's combat team in Khan Yunis \\ Credit: IDF Spokesperson
My country has changed its face. She matured one Saturday, got older, got smarter. To me, she is much more beautiful, painful and sober. And most of all, it requires us to focus. Understand that life here involves a willingness to pay a price.
At the time these things are published, I am already after my last assignment in the current round of reserves. My subordinates and I were privileged to take part in the war, to get to know the most beautiful Israelis there are, to feel the great spirit of this nation, and we also left in peace.
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
On Monday of this week, it resonated strongly with me, penetrating the automatic armor that had been required since the beginning of the war. Just after finishing scans in the open (my new profession in recent months). After we left the central Gaza Strip, they called to tell me that Yoni Bahat, a paratroopers brigade commander in the reserves, and a friend from the moshav had been seriously wounded. Beside him was Itamar injured by his command post, the CEO of a civics company.
In the last picture before the injury, we drink coffee in their corner of the garden, a coffee of calm between military missions. The sun is in the sky, the weather is excellent, neither too hot nor cold. Our conversation was about everything possible: what would happen the day after, who was counting them in the command post, and when the change would be.
No one complained about the smell of sweat from walking or we didn't wash dishes, just one end-of-task conversation among many. We said goodbye, and shortly afterwards they encountered terrorists. Yonati lost a lot of blood. The resourcefulness of the people with him, including his younger brother Nadav, who serves as a commander in the brigade mobility force, a young and excellent paramedic from Tzafririm and a helicopter that landed on time, saved his life and Itamar's life.
IDF activity in the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
After the news of Yonati came the news of Idan Amidi, a friend and public role model. Idan is the kind of person who always harnesses to any whim that involves doing good. The first time he agreed to come with me, it was an evening in honor of the renewal of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom. I had the idea to hold a volunteer day, and Idan was the only artist who agreed to go that far.
I describe in relative detail Yonati's encounter not only because of the end of his reserve duty and the fact that from this week I will return to speak as a civilian and not as an officer in the reserves, but because the war is made up of many such moments.
A brother who saves his brother, an event that can only happen here, a young paramedic who shows more resourcefulness than all the men around her. A revered star who decides to leave everything and go on reserve. A successful CEO who is in his command post. The moments and the people - that's the complexity of this war. It doesn't have as much black and white as we'd like, just a Sisyphean effort, another tunnel and more terrain; Another assassination of a terrorist and another rocket factory that was found.
Most of the time it's quiet and the sun is in the sky, or there's rain like this week. In battle, attack, foot or mounted movement. Most of the time you meet the people of Israel. Drinking, eating, talking about life. That's how it is when a war goes on for so long and the enemy is a coward. And then sometimes it changes all at once.
Israeli flag in the heart of the Gaza Strip, photo: None
This is a dangerous activity that exacts a heavy price, but the quiet and stagnation, as we learned before the war, are more dangerous. I understand that there is some disappointment because of the magnitude of the politicians' statements. This does not change the enormous achievement of an entire society that mobilizes out of mutual responsibility. It does not change the need to complete the work and allow security.
Anyway, on Monday the war forced me, and I had no choice but to think about the price. And this is exactly the point worth illustrating - those who are injured, those who sell publicly and others, understand very well what the price is. They are older people, with families and a good life in citizenship. Most of them are successful people who choose of their own free will, out of a great belief in the righteousness of the path, to take risks. They are mobilizing so that the citizens of Israel will have safety and quiet – not for the sake of the government, but for the sake of the country. They risk that the helplessness of October 7 does not return.
Yonati, Itamar (with whom I managed to talk after the injury), Idan that the people of Israel know, and many other good people that I don't mention - for them and the other wounded it is important what happens at home. They are there because of the people of Israel. Unity, responsibility, become a discourse that disintegrates us from within. And the people at home, including me—starting shortly—their only job is to provide a tailwind to realize this common goal. Not to disintegrate us from any direction in the name of a negligible political achievement.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us