Grandma's army

The induction of my grandson Amitai into the Armoured Corps, which took place at Latrun, was particularly moving - since only one week before we were privileged to witness the same ceremony, at the Western Wall , of his triplet brother, Ohad. The third of the triplets, Aviad, is   due to join the IDF later this year. The ceremony began at 3 p.m. when approximately 650 soldiers marched to a rousing tune; the flag was raised, torches were lit in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Corps.,   veteran officers gave inspiring speeches, together the soldiers swore loyalty to the IDF and their country, Bibles and guns were distributed by the commander of the Corps. The ceremony ended with the playing of the national anthem, accompanied by the   large crowd of visiting families and friends. After the national anthem and counting backwards all the soldiers threw their black berets in the air. The Battles of Latrun  were a series of military engagements between ...

King Herod built the Western Wall in 20 BCE during an expansion of the Second Temple. When the Romans destroyed the temple in 70 CE, the support wall survived, which made it the holiest site for the Jewish People ever since. The reason it has been dubbed as the “Wailing Wall” is that, for hundreds of years, people prayed and wept in the small area of the wall that could be seen.   After the 1948 War of Independence, the Eastern portion of Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan. Under Jordanian control Jews were completely expelled from the Old City for 19 years, effectively banning Jewish prayer at the site of the Western Wall. In 1967, following the Six-Day War, Israelis regained control of the whole of Jerusalem. Digging below the ground of the wall, they exposed two more levels. They also cleared the area around the wall, to create the Western Wall Plaza that visitors see today, and which is open to all people. Since Jews have been   mourning their Temple and exile f...

The Gaza envelope   ‎   (“Otef Aza” in Hebrew), refers to the region of  Israel  surrounding the  Gaza Strip , to the depth of a few miles (7 kms.), mostly agricultural settlements such as  Kibbutzim  and  Moshavim . These Confrontation-line Communities compromise of   approximately 55 settlements, with the addition of the small town of Sderot. Since the  Second Intifada , and especially since Israel  withdrew unilaterally from all settlements and bases in Gaza  in 2005, the communities in the area surrounding the Gaza strip have been suffering from incessant  terrorist attacks - such as infiltration attempts,  mortar  shells and  Qassam rockets  . 13 years ago, Israel withdrew from Gaza and transferred the entire coastal territory to the Palestinian Authority. In 2007 Hamas violently seized Gaza from Abbas and the PA and has since initiated or provoked three major conflicts with Israel. For ...