Saying thank you to our heroes
Op-ed: The 'spoiled' young soldiers, the Facebook and Instagram kids, proved to be courageous and determined fighters in last summer's war.
There was Sahar Elbaz from the Givati Brigade, a lone soldier who immigrated from the United States, who fought bravely in Khirbet Khizeh and killed four terrorists on his own, in a short-range battle, despite a jam in his weapon.
And there was Yogev Ofir from the Nahal Brigade's 931st Battalion, who rescued his friends under heavy fire, demonstrating bravery which will still be learned as part of the IDF's battle heritage.
And there was Omri from the Duvdevan Unit, who jumped on his friend as a grenade was thrown at him.
And there was of course Eitan Fund, this war's most modest hero, who went into a tunnel with incredible courage in order to try and rescue his friend, Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, although he knew exactly what he was entering and the price he might pay.
These are the faces, these are the names, this is the 2015 model of IDF fighters. The Israeli society has already managed to forget what happened here last summer and has been swept into the election campaign. But on Monday, in a sort of universe parallel to the world of spending, bottles and NGOs, it stopped to say thank you.
Even the biggest cynics found it difficult to remain indifferent when Eitan Pond went up on the stage to receive the Medal of Distinguished Service, and the room exploded with the applause of regiment commanders, brigade commanders, division commanders and generals who have already seen a thing or two in the army, but found it difficult to remain indifferent in front of the brave and modest officer.
The proudest of all, as if it were his own son, was Givati Brigade Commander Colonel Ofer Winter, who gave the young officer permission to go into the tunnel. Winter has been under quite a lot of criticism since the fighting ended, not always rightfully, but on Monday he had something to be proud about: Thirteen of the decorated fighters were his subordinates, and even the Tzabar Battalion of dismissed Lieutenant Colonel Liran Hajbi received a Medal of Appreciation from the Southern Command chief, making Givati the most decorated unit of Operation Protective Edge.
But Givati was not the only decorated unit: Golani Brigade fighters received eight citations, the paratroopers got seven, the Nahal fighters – six, and another 15 went to fighters in all the regular armored brigades.
The auditorium in Palmachim looked on Monday like a reunion of the summer's fighting. We saw Paratroopers Brigade Commander Colonel Eliezer Toledano; Nahal Brigade Commander Colonel Uri Gordin; Golani Brigade Commander Colonel Ghassan Alian; the commander of the squad commanders' school, Colonel Mordechai Kahana; the commander of the Nahal's 931st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sharon Asman, who got the battalion to its feet and restored the green brigade's dignity; and many others who only a week ago were ready for a war on the northern border.
That war has been postponed, for now, to an unknown date, but Chief of Staff Benny Gantz warned in his comments Monday that "a big or small conflict can be ignited in an instant."
So it's important to put the criticism – which must be voiced – aside for a moment and say thank you to the heroes of Protective Edge, before it's time for another citation ceremony.
