Grandma's army

ARMY NEWS Five of my grandchildren are still serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. Memi, who is a commander in a prestigious commando unit of the IDF, has decided to extend his army service. He  is at present participating in a three month’s course. This includes soldiers from all sections of the army. They will be serving as future commanders  of platoons in their particular field. Some time during the course they will be flown to Poland for a week’s tour,  where they will be learning about the Holocaust. This is part of a project called “Witnesses in Uniform”. One of his trainees is his cousin Ohad, who was the first of my triplet grandsons to join the IDF. He was recruited over two years ago, and has already carried out various undisclosed missions His brother Amitai, serving in an armoured battalion, is now a platoon commander. He has recently been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Aviad is the last one of the triplets to join the IDF and is serving in th...

Since its inception, Israel has not been allowed to take its existence for granted, like every other nation on earth. Although Israel is just a “dot” on the map, there are more international journalists in Israel per capita than in any other place in the world. The eyes of the world quite literally watch and judge whatever takes place there. Even after decades of independence, the existence of the State of Israel is still not recognized by some states and international bodies, while others are even pledged to bring about its destruction. In addition, criteria of judgement which differ from those applied to any other nation, are applied to Israel. Having achieved independence, Israel still found itself in an ongoing battle  for recognition and for its right to life. Under constant threat of violence or war, Israel’s achievements have, nonetheless, been remarkable: It has taken a neglected, desolate landscape and turned it into a place of farms, forests, nature reserves, an...