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Photo: Gil Nechushtan
Livni reunites with Dr. Lev
Photo: Gil Nechushtan

A terror victim and his rescuer reunite after 40 years

Dr. Boaz Lev was the first to arrive at the scene after Gil Livni was shot by a terrorist who inflitrated a kibbutz in northern Israel close to the border with Lebanon in 1974.

The doorbell rings. Gil Livni, 76, from Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra in northern Israel, opens the door to his home and his heart starts to beat rapidly with excitement. For the first time in 40 years, Dr. Boaz Lev, 67, the man who saved Livni's life after a terror attack in 1974, stands before him.

 

 

"I see Dr. Lev," said Livni, "and my heart expands."

 

Livni (left) reunites with Dr. Lev (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)
Livni (left) reunites with Dr. Lev (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)

 

At around 5am on December 6, 1974, Gil Livni and his wife Tziona were sleeping in their bedroom at Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra on the border with Lebanon when they heard suspicious sounds outside their home.

 

Figuring his dog Lady had wandered outside, Livni got up from bed and opened the front door.

 

But instead of finding Lady, Livni was confronted by a dark-skinned man wearing a diving suit and clutching a Kalashnikov rifle.

 

"What are you looking for?" asked Livni, even though it was clear to him who was standing before him.

 

The terrorist shot three bullets hitting Livni's upper body and escaped to a nearby empty building.

 

"I fell into a pool of blood but I did not lose consciousness," said Livni. "I breathed heavily and said to myself, 'I am not dying from this.'"

 

The sound of the gunshots quickly awakened the other kibbutz members.

 

One of the first people to arrive at the scene was Dr. Lev, who was then a young medical officer serving in the IDF, stationed in northern Israel, and living in Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra.

 

Dr. Lev now serves as the Associate Director General in the Health Ministry.

 

"I came with my doctor's pack. Livni was seriously wounded. I bandaged him and we took him to the hospital in Nahariya in an open truck," said Dr. Lev.

 

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctors saw that Livni had been shot near his heart and throat.

 

"To this day I remember that Livni asked me to stay by his side until he was sedated," Dr. Lev said.

 

Meanwhile, the Paratroopers Brigade, lead by Commander Yiftah Reicher-Atir, who today serves as a reserves brigadier-general, arrived at the scene.

 

"We approached the door, we checked that there were no hostages, I threw a Phosphorus grenade into the bathroom, and then I entered and shot the terrorist," said Riecher-Atir.

 

Riecher-Atir received a certificate of recognition from then-GOC Northern Command Rafel "Raful" Eitan, who went on to become the IDF chief of staff.

 

Livni, whose scars from the attack are still evident, lives in the same kibbutz and has five grandchildren. He is a volunteer at the hospital in Nahariya where he was hospitalized after the attack.

 

Although their house in the kibbutz has gone through renovations since the attack forty years ago, and the damages from the gunshots have been repaired, the memories of that day remain clear for all of those involved in saving Livni's life, and the fear of another attack still exists.

 

"I guess it was our own private Hanukkah miracle," says Livni's wife.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.08.14, 00:07
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