Grandma's army

  It is inconceivable   that   the Arab media, which disseminates Israeli “atrocities” throughout the world, is blindly accepted by millions of people who have no knowledge of the true facts. Most news concerning Israel is biased, invariably falsified, distorted and not even properly verified by supposedly reputable sources, such as the B.B.C., CNN, REUTERS, the Guardian, etc. Currently, the world is concentrating on the war in Gaza, and the accusation by the Palestinians in Gaza of ethnic cleansing by Israel. Israel is a Jewish state. Its minorities are Muslim, Christian and Druze Arabs. Their numbers have grown steadily, along with the country’s overall population.  The Arabic    population in Israel in 1948 was 56,000. Today there are 2,178,000 Arabs living in Israel.   In areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority, everyone is Arab. Christian Arabs are a dwindling minority that fears for its security. The percentage of Christians ha...

  The brothers Elchanan and Menachem Klemanson, and their nephew Itiels’ entry into the carnage at Kibbutz Be’eri began on   Saturday, October 7, when news began to spread that a major security incident was underway in southern Israel. As more details emerged, it became clear that large numbers of Hamas and other Gazan terrorists had entered Israel from Gaza and were attacking nearby communities. The three Reservists, at the initiative of Elchanan, (a captain in the Israeli army),   left their homes to help save the lives of Gaza border residents. Equipped with bulletproof vests and M16 rifles, they rescued dozens of kibbutz Be’eri residents from the hands of Hamas terrorists, before Elhanan was killed. “With extraordinary courage they saved   entire families”.                                                   ...

Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British army officer, who has more experience in war and terrorism than almost anybody stated:   “The only reason Israel goes to war is to defend itself. And it has to defend itself because it is surrounded by countries, and armed groups, that want to destroy it”. The IDF is an army of defense because the primary tenet of Judaism is the sanctity of life. The Jews are not wired to be killers or avengers. That is why, even when facing an implacable enemy, we make every effort to minimize the killing of civilians One of the most outstanding Jews who exemplified the sanctity of life was  Rabbi Yekusiel Halberstam, whose wife and eleven children were murdered in Auschwitz.    A fellow inmate of the brutal concentration camp recounted the discussion the Rabbi  had with a German officer.The officer told him, “Every morning you Jews bless G-d for not making you gentiles. Now look who’s more important – you or me?” The Rabbi explai...

  My youngest son, Yoni, has five sons, three of whom are triplets. Their oldest son is studying abroad, but the other four were all called up at the beginning of the war. Ido functioned as a team commander in a Reserves corps whose role was to guard and navigate logistics for farmers in the settlements surrounding Gaza. Farmers, who returned to work in areas adjacent to the fence that were threatened, until recently, by terrorists. The corps were also guarding against terrorist infiltration in the area. Aviad, the oldest of the triplets (by five minutes) wrote: “I have been serving until now in the Alexandroni Reserve’s brigade of the Golani regiment. On Simchat Torah we were sent up north to guard the border in case Hezbollah, like Hamas, would try to infiltrate into Israel. Our brigade was situated on a border kibbutz. We prepared ourselves, not only against infiltration but also against missile attacks. The settlements are in constant danger from anti-tank missiles t...

  My oldest daughter, Simcha, has four sons in the Reserves, plus her son-in-law: Her oldest son, Nir, is a Major in the Givati commandos. He was on his way to volunteer at 11:00 a.m. on October 7 th , before his call-up papers arrived. His present service is connected to Intelligence activities and is not for   the public ear. Omer, from the Givati Battalion, also went straight to his army base on the 7 th of October, before his call-up papers arrived two days later. Givati forces are in charge of combatting terrorism in the Gaza Strip area His first assignment was as Deputy Commander of the Forward Command Squad. Because of chronic back problems, he was transferred to the Battalion’s War Room where he is part of a small team. He monitors orders between the Battalions and Brigades, deals with problems of the ground forces in his command, and records the day’s military activities. Assaf wrote: “At 6 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7 th , my wife Deni left for her work as a nur...

  Six-and-a-haIf years ago I began to write a blog “Grandma’s Army”, as I had seven grandchildren serving in the army at the same time.   Little did I dream that today, that number would jump to seven + ten, Apart from two in the regular army, all the rest are in the Reserves. Both of my sons, who are over 60 years-old, are in army uniform again. They have volunteered to drive army trucks for transport purposes all over the country, after taking a special driving course. Since I began this blog, Azriel and his wife have returned to live in their home on the moshav. They had been evacuated since the beginning of the war, since their home is in the “Gaza envelope”. Azriel has four children and one son-in-law in the army since the beginning. His officer daughter, Adi was called up to the War room of the Gaza Brigade on the second day of the war: “When the first Givati ground forces of the regular army entered Gaza, I knew that my fiancé, Hillel, was amongst them serving a...

  Two days ago, I stood with my family, and former residents of Gush Katif in the pouring of rain, at the graveside of my son-in-law, Gideon Rivlin ז"ל . 19 years ago, he was murdered by terrorists in Gush Katif. Gideon’s youngest son, Gilead was one of the speakers: “I began to write, but had no idea in which direction the text would lead me. What should I speak about? On the grief, the war and death? Or on the new life and about our Alma?   At Alma”s birth I was confronted by a whirlpool of feelings because of this dissonance. A moment ago, I was at my army base preparing my   soldiers and equipment for going into Gaza. Suddenly Noa phones. I leave everything and travel straight   to the hospital.    I am sitting in the hospital and Alma is sleeping peacefully on my chest when, at the same time, I read on my cellphone of one soldier killed and others wounded. This dissonance has accompanied me for 19 years. Since you were killed I live and fu...