(Photo: Noam Rabkin Fenton Flash 90)
The Chief of Staff’s speech at a memorial candle lighting ceremony at the Western Wall plaza
Honorable President of the State, Mr. Yitzhak Herzog,
Dear families,
Dear all,
The road was quiet, the flotilla fighters advanced in the dive and in the back of the boats, the General Staff patrol fighters. Half Moon Night, 1969. They moved to the Green Island in the heart of Lake Suez.
Four thousand years earlier, on a path on the way right here, they walked quietly, to the danger, to Mount Moriah, father and son, Abraham who said I am and Isaac. The bundles of machine guns broke the silence at once. The warriors stormed the island, attacking the fortress in its center, and conducting short-range combat. The bullets whistled in every direction and also in the direction of Haim Sturman, in whom the price of danger had been burned since childhood. It is named after his grandfather, who was killed by a mine during a patrol mission.
Haim the grandfather grew up in Ukraine, and saw his family and the entire Jewish community subjected to constant violence and attacks. “Get up and go to the city of killing,” Bialik wrote of disturbances among Jews, and spared no criticism of the victim’s attitude and inaction. Haim and his family did an act, they saw the humiliation, heard the sound of shouting and listened to their inner voice saying to them, ‘Get up and go to your country’, and they answered I am. They knew that only our country with our own protective force would allow them a safe life.
Haim immigrated to Israel with his family, together with his friends he founded Kibbutz Ein Harod and joined Shomer, the organization that adopted the principle he believed in, self-defense. I said time and time again, until that time, when he set out on a patrol mission from which he never returned, but bequeathed to his son Moses the spirit of defense and the principle of going first.
The son Moshe grew up and was among the first Palmach fighters, and when it was his turn, as inherited from his father, I said, a statement that meant responding to the call and preparing for the mission. , And like his father, he bequeathed to his son Chaim the spirit of protection and the spirit of those who walk first.
Go, take your destiny into your own hands, Abraham was commanded, and copied his life to the Promised Land. The Promised Land has become a developed and high-achieving country, but remains surrounded by threats and challenges. It is a reality that calls on every boy and girl to take action, and in turn, with education and backing from parents and educators, to stand up and take part in the defense of the state and the citizens.
“They will not return, but thanks to them many have returned”
Dear families, you have raised your children, and you too have walked with them for your own sake. They matured, discovered uniqueness and talent and marked a direction for life. They heard the call, and in turn went up to Mount Moriah and said I am, and you whispered with them in concern and pride. They set out on a mission, made an effort, defended and attacked, and filled a number of roles that aided in the fighting. But they did not have the grace of Isaac and Eyal did not appear.
The vast majority of families in the State of Israel waited for their children to descend the mountain, and received them in a hug at the end of their military service, but you will wait in vain, some of you are still waiting. They will not return! They will not return but thanks to them many have returned, thanks to them the lives of tens of thousands of citizens have been saved, and a large part of the security and achievements of the state is due to them.
Your pain is unbearable, and grief is oppressive and branching out in body and mind. He is present and does not rest for a moment, and cruelly overcomes on Saturdays, holidays and birthdays. The entire IDF and I at its head bow our heads out of sympathy, deep sorrow, and appreciation for your resilience and resilience, which are an example to us all.
Today, as in the past, the IDF faces threats from a number of arenas. We do not allow relative security stability to become an illusion, and remain sober as to the intentions of the enemy. The IDF and its commanders are on guard, fighting, and I say, and I am very proud to command them.
Green Island has been replaced by other operations, some of which are farther from the Suez Canal. The counterterrorism continues every week, from north to south, and IDF units protect the country’s citizens on roads and intersections in Judea and Samaria and along the borders. The IDF is deterrent, enterprising and aggressive, going beyond the borders of the country to strike the enemy in the air, at sea and on land, all over the Middle East, and going out of its way to realize the principle of self-defense.
Generation after generation swears allegiance and calls I am, stands up for military service, and embodies the opposite – from those who evade and say I am not. Thus the conscripts and reservists who leap in time of war, and so the permanent servants, who have chosen an abnormal way of life, to enable the citizens of the country a normal life.
I am – the reading attracts the chain of generations, and they go out to the gorges of Moriah, its plains and mountains: only from there reveal the location of the enemy and thwart an attack, only from there prevent a stone, bullet or rocket hit, and only from there the enemy is controlled, attacked and destroyed. I am an element present in every ambush at the border, in a plane takeoff, in a supply convoy in a combat zone, in training or in an operation, and it is planted among soldiers from all troops and in a variety of positions. I am the value element of the IDF, the army of the people, without which the people have no existence, and therefore it is necessary that they always serve, in duty and permanently, the good of the people.
“Protecting the right to life”
The fighting on Green Island continued, and Haim Sturman the grandson, the son of the Palmach man and the grandson of the Hashomer man, continued to advance and fight together with his friends. They did so without asking what I got out of it. Hail did not show up, and Haim was shot and killed, along with five of his friends, but the mission was completed.
Not a few months passed, and Amir Brin, Chaim’s cousin, another grandson of Chaim the grandfather, was killed like him when the tank in which he fought hit a mine. The grandfather, son and two grandchildren are buried together in the same cemetery. On less difficult cases than these, Haim Guri, inspired by the akeda, wrote his poem ‘The Inheritance’: “Yitzchak, no sacrifice was made. He lived many days, saw well, until the light of his eyes was dark. So he wrote.
Like Yitzhak, many who served in the IDF have lived and are living many good days, and we do everything to keep the food away from civilians and soldiers alike: acquire advanced weapons, develop innovative methods of operation, and always use force with responsibility and discretion. With determination and fighting, the puppies of justice, at least for the foreseeable future, and as an object of life, we are required to struggle and be willing to bear the price, show resilience and composure in the face of the wounded and injured, and know how to fight back.
In the same breath, experience teaches, and so does my experience, from many encounters with soldiers, that boys and girls are born and have a great spirit in their hearts. A good spirit that expresses a desire to create, influence, be meaningful and contribute. A spirit that proves that values are passed down from generation to generation. In the term ‘Israel Defense Forces’ the word ‘for Israel’ is the purpose. We defend the right to life and in its name endanger life, to enable all of us, as a nation, to exercise our right and duty to build a prosperous, worthy and full of life society.
Hence the spirit and this is the meaning, national meaning and meaning of self-fulfillment. This is the spirit that we inherited from Abraham and with it the faith, morality and hope, and the courage to do an act, to change, to create and to renew. These are the qualities that led to the building of a wonderful state, which is a place of fulfillment, a place of our own, a safe and enabling place.
But above all, many in the nation inherited from Abraham the spirit to say I am. I mean to take responsibility, to dare, to be right and to take risks. Which means to contribute and influence, not to look from the side but to do, not to wait but to initiate. I mean to serve something bigger and more important than me.
Dear families, together with the entire IDF I salute the fallen, salute you and embrace you. I strengthen the wounded, and the families of the captives and the missing, and pledge that we will continue to do everything to return them to their land and family. Engraved on his grave.In other words, a country – thanks to those who walk first… thanks to those who say… I am.
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