On Monday morning, Asher Shushan, 33, walked his daughters Talia, Shira and Reut to their schools and kindergartens. The next day, he will kiss them goodbye, load his heavy duffel bag into the car and leave his home in Acre for another round of reserve duty.
About 40,000 reservists are expected to begin reporting on Tuesday under emergency call-up orders, mainly to the national training center in Tze’elim in the Negev, as part of preparations for the upcoming large-scale offensive in Gaza, codenamed Operation Gideon’s Chariots II.
In recent days, the army tried to gauge in the battalions how many soldiers would show up this time, after participation in recent rotations averaged about 60 to 70 percent, forcing the military to scale back missions in various sectors. According to initial assessments by reserve officers, even in the best-case scenario, turnout this time will not be much different.
The original date for Shushan and his platoon to begin another round of reserve duty was set for later this month, but with tens of thousands being mobilized under the emergency order, it was moved up to Tuesday. “We just opened the new school year, and the girls have started their programs,” he said. “My wife, Nirit, began teaching at a new school, and our youngest started at a new municipal kindergarten, which means that at a time when everything at home is so complicated, I won’t be there.”
Shushan has already served more than 250 days of reserve duty and fighting in every hot front in Israel and beyond. In his last rotation in Gaza, three of his comrades in the platoon were killed in clashes with terrorists. “Of course there are concerns about what awaits us in Gaza, because you don’t know where the terrorists will appear,” he said. “Even in places thought to be secure, where we’ve already operated, we can be surprised by terrorists emerging from a tunnel shaft, like what happened to a Kfir Brigade force in Khan Younis.”
Even so, he and Nirit never considered trying to avoid the call-up. “At the end of the day, I go to reserve duty out of belief in the justice of the cause, with the understanding that you don’t leave your friends behind. I’m not defending a foreign country, but our home,” he said.
“There’s no doubt it’s very difficult emotionally for the girls, and the burden at home falls on me,” said his wife, Nirit, adding that she hopes the weight of reserve duty will be shared more widely among Israeli families — including in the ultra-Orthodox community, which she said must also respond to the soldiers’ pleas.
In the meantime, until the seemingly endless reserve rotations come to an end, the Shushans have once again been added to the lists of mobilized families in Acre and supported by Anchor. On Monday evening, the family was also honored at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem with the President’s Award for Volunteerism. “They really are a lifeline,” Shushan said with emotion. “Together with our entire community, they try to help and don’t leave reservists’ families behind.”
Another who has answered the current call-up for the Gaza offensive is Udi Tenne, 38, from Bnei Brak. Tenne, a reservist officer and civilian strategic consultant, is married with four children. Since October 7, he has already completed more than 500 days of reserve service.
“I have no problem doing another 5,000 days, but I want us to really finish the job and go for decisive victory,” Tenne said. “We want there to be a real purpose, a total victory, not just slogans. I am ready to give my heart and soul. I want the land to be quiet for 100 years so that we can prosper and grow. We must ensure that whatever happens, Hamas will be dealt a heavy blow, so that they will think twice before ever attempting another October 7. Hamas is an ideology. They sanctify land, while we sanctify life. We need to take land and territory from them, because that is what will hurt them. That is where we will build Kfar Aza II and Nahal Oz III.”
Tenne too will leave behind his wife and four young children. “It’s difficult, but the children have learned to live with it,” he said. “Yair, my eldest, just started sixth grade. He’s 11. I think despite all the hardship, they grow from it. It’s a supreme value for the children to know that their father is being called up and putting on the uniform, along with the whole family. They are learning a real lesson in citizenship and love of country. Our children are absorbing Zionism during this period, and that is the highest value. They understand that you set aside personal comforts and mobilize as much as needed and for as long as it takes.”