Soldier breaks down in face-off
Emotions run high as soldiers confront protesters for the first time; Ynet follows up on situation of Private Rotem Bar
OFAKIM - Today was the first test for soldiers of the Caracal Battalion, as they faced down protesters attempting to reach Gush Katif.
The scene for the confrontation was set at Ofakim, where a group of around two hundred settlers and opponents to the disengagement confronted soldiers from the battalion.
The protestors did not come with abuse or curses, but with loving words, songs, and prayers for the welfare of IDF soldiers.
They did not, however, plan on making it easy for the young soldiers, who had been training for this day for three weeks.
Protesters - loving words and prayer (Photo: Attila Somfalvi)
The use of warm words, rather than curses made it that much harder for the soldiers to deal with the protesters, and a female soldier from the battalion, stationed to prevent the protesters from reaching Gush Katif, to break down and cry.
“I simply collapsed, physically and mentally,” said the soldier later. “It took me about a minute, after it all started, to realize that I couldn’t stand up to this mission.”
A few other soldiers chose to leave the ranks, sit on the side, and quietly cry, as they thought about the difficult mission ahead.
Emotions run high (Photo: Attila Somfalvi)
They returned to face the settlers after they calmed down, but it was clear to all that it wasn’t really possible to train security forces for what lay ahead.
The picture was confused, and one officer joined the protesters in a prayer service, after telling them that the mission was not easy, but that a government's legal decision was going to be upheld nonetheless.
Bypassing Politics
After two hours of talks with disengagement opponents, the protesters began to slowly disperse, and the batallion’s commanders took their soldiers aside for private and intimate conversations.
This time, it wasn’t an exercise – soldiers saw and heard the opponent who would stand against them in two week’s time.
Private Rotem Bar, who two days ago told Ynet about her difficulties in staying in contact with her friend who resides in the Gaza settlement of Nave Dekalim, shook for several minutes as she stood against the protesters.
Her biggest fear was that her friend, Yogav, would appear. Although her comrades helped her calm down, she cried after the confrontation.
“I was scared he would appear,” she told her friends. “When they come here, the protesters, I scanned their faces to make sure he wasn’t there.”
