Grandma's army

In 199 5 , Israel disengaged from 85% of Gaza and 100% of its population living there. The disengagement created the largest terrorist base in the world, led/harboured by PLO graduates of terrorist camps in Yemen, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon and Tunisia The disengagement was interpreted, by terrorists, as a retreat from the role-model of countering terrorism (Israel), and a reward to the role-model of terrorism (PLO/PA). It has inspired Islamic terrorism, which also threatens pro-US Arab regimes. The day immediately after the disengagement, the nine thousand Jews from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron, found themselves scattered at random in hotels and youth hostels, with no idea of what their next steps would be. No strategy was planned to re-settle or re-integrate them. The compensation packages significantly undervalued their assets, and hardly covered basic living expenses during the lengthy period of unemployment. Most had to use some of the compensation monies to pay off their m...

On January 12 th 2005 a terrible tragedy struck our family – our beloved son-in-law, Simcha’s husband Gideon, was murdered by terrorists. Since the Israeli Defense Forces were responsible for the defense of settlements in the Gaza strip, Gideon had been driving in an army jeep to determine where to build a security fence at one of the settlements - Morag. While they were traveling in the area of the greenhouses around which the fence was scheduled to be built, the jeep was suddenly blown up by a roadside bomb which was detonated by two terrorists. Gideon, who was driving, was killed outright and the vice battalion commander who was sitting next to him lost his leg. The two young 19 year-old soldiers sitting at the back were miraculously physically unharmed but severely traumatized. Gideon’s oldest son, Nir, who worked together with his father and was supposed to be with him at the time, was held up and didn’t accompany him to Morag. To compound the tragedy, in August of the ...