Future IDF commanders aid elderly during storm
Infantry Corps School students called up to service Jerusalem's elderly, needy. Soldiers patrol streets, shovel snow, hand out emergency supplies
Dozens of soldiers from the Paratroopers, Golani,
Kfir, Givati, and Nachal Bridgades who are enrolled in the officer training course were activated as support units during the weekend's storm.
After breaching the roads to Jerusalem in military bulldozers and armored personnel carriers, the next generation of the Infantry Corps commanders removed snow
with shovels.
Soldiers patrolled door to door in Jerusalem, searched construction areas, and navigated to destinations using slightly different measures than they are used to in the Infantry Corps School.
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On Saturday, the soldiers were called up for service with no prior notice and placed under the command of Homefront Command in Jerusalem, in an operation dubbed "White Flakes."
Armored personnel carrier patrolling streets (Photo: Isaac Lavi)
APC under Jerusalem Chords Bridge (Photo: Itay Cohen)
IDF personnel with Jerusalemites (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
They also trimmed trees and handed out hot food, heating bags and blankets to the elderly and the needy.
Together with volunteers from various youth organizations, the soldiers were the first faces seen by hundreds of elderly folk – many childless and alone – after four days of freezing seclusion.
By the time the civil authorities remembered to call on the IDF, the snow began to melt.
"What we did here over the past two days gave more to the country than what we'll do for three years on patrol or guard duty," said Avishai, a student partaking in a Givati course. "No one seeks an exemption from this type of duty."
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