Captain Yedidia: From War Zone to Delivery Room
On the morning of Black Saturday, the alarms woke up Captain Yedidia, commander of a paratrooper company. He quickly received a phone call from the general and immediately settled in the south, leaving behind his nine-month pregnant wife, Manal. In an interview with N12, Capt. Yedidia shared, “I didn’t say goodbye to Manal when I left the house and I knew there was a price for it. In the beginning, I did not understand the magnitude of the event, but we understood that the sector has a power in need. On the way, I spotted wounded soldiers, and I jumped out of the vehicle to try to understand from them a situational picture of what is happening in the field.”
Captain Yedidia fought in the city of Sderot before being sent to help the residents of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, which had been infiltrated by terrorists. It was in the kibbutz fields that he was seriously wounded by gunfire. He was rescued and taken to the hospital by Reserve Major Noam Tivon, who had independently jumped into the field to save his family. After undergoing surgery, Captain Yedidia was informed by the director of the surgical department at Hadassah, Prof. Alon Pikarski, of the dramatic improvement in his condition.
Meanwhile, his wife, Anhal, who was heavily pregnant and with a two-year-old daughter, was waiting for him at home. When she learned that her husband was injured, she recounted, “At that moment, I just took a bottle of water and tried to relax. When we later arrived at Barzilai Hospital – there was crazy chaos. We went in to see him and he was sedated and breathing. As soon as I saw that his heart was beating – a stone fell from my heart.” She added, “When we realized what was and what happened there, all we had to do was say thank you for the life that was given to us as a gift once again.”
One month after being injured, Captain Yedidia began to recover. As he left the operating room at Hadassah Ein Kerem, he received news that his wife had gone into labor. “We feel a huge privilege to bring life into the world and bring light even on days like this,” Anhal said. “I think the damned terrorists planned and invested a lot in their attack. They also managed to surprise us, but they didn’t take into account that there are things they can’t win. The people of Israel are stronger than that.”
Captain Yedidia, who was able to hug his son after the severe injury, shared his feelings, “We are sad for our murdered, for the soldiers who risk their lives, and for the abductees who are being held in the Gaza Strip. But the wind that blows here and the strength that the people have shown in recent days cannot be taken away. This is the weapon that Hamas did not plan to meet. They took away the opportunity to put on a vest and a weapon – they didn’t take away the opportunity to bring life into the world. We are winning.”