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An Israeli Soldier's Story
By Fred Taub
June 6,
2006
 His nickname is "Itchy", which some
people may guess he received after leaving home in Cleveland, Ohio, to join the
Israel Defense Forces. Perhaps because of a proverbial "itchy trigger finger"
many people think all soldiers have, but it has actually been Ya'akov's
nickname all his life, and his IDF service exemplifies the professionalism he
and his fellow soldiers exhibit.
What makes Itchy
different from most other Israeli soldiers is that while most Orthodox Jews who
join the IDF come from a strongly Zionist family, Itchy's family "wears black
hats"; thus, not the typical family whose kids people expect to join the IDF.
"I wanted to do it since I was a kid," he said. "The
opportunity struck at a certain time, so I grabbed it. I was learning in the
yeshiva in Waterbury, Connecticut, when my brother-in-law mentioned an IDF
religious unit to me. I decided I was old enough to do it and I was ready to
join. I did not give it much thought. I made the decision to join and that was
it."
Itchy joined the Nachal Chareidi ? an
all-religious battalion: "This is the unit I wanted to be in because it's an
uncompromising religious unit. I had the chance to grow and practice religion
too."
Just because they take extra time to pray and
study the Talmud does not make them a lesser unit in the eyes of other
soldiers. In fact, it is the opposite: "We regularly compete against
non-religious units and we come out on top. There are no girls in the unit and
the unit is highly praised by generals. People come to me on the streets and
see my insignia, and say 'Kol hakavod.' One of the best parts of our unit is
that rabbis are there all the time to answer Halachic questions and soldier's
wives can visit the base. They [the IDF] understand the needs of the religious
soldiers."
While the unit is primarily comprised of
Israeli-born soldiers, people come from all over the world - including from the
US, France, Australia and South America - to join the brigade.
"I spoke basic Hebrew when I came, and my Hebrew got
better in the army," Itchy said. "At first I walked around the streets in a
uniform with a gun, but I couldn't even give people directions. There were
challenges every day because I was an American. Learning the language was the
hardest part, but I picked it up after a few weeks. This was my first time in
Israel, but I fit in perfectly after a while."
Studying long hours in yeshivas all his life, being
strong-willed and decisive has paid off. After just nine months in the army,
Itchy is a squad leader, in charge of his unit when no officers are around, and
will soon be going to the IDF's officer training school.
"Army life is not all fun and games. Training is
rough and you really have to want to be there," he said. "It is a matter of
will. Sometimes, the scrawniest kids make it and the toughest guys don't. You
have to want to be there.
"One day I was on a jeep
patrol, checking things out, and we decided to stop to pick up lunch at one of
the checkpoints where our unit was set up. There were about 30 Palestinian cars
in line at the checkpoint when we left to go back to our base for a shift
change. Suddenly, over the radio, we heard there was a terrorist attack at the
checkpoint we just left. After five minutes, the commander announced on the
radio that the incident was cleared."
As it turned
out, an officer at the checkpoint noticed a Palestinian man wearing a big coat
on a hot day and carrying a larger than usual stomach. The man looked "overall
suspicious", Itchy explained.
The officer on-scene
screamed, "Stop!" to the man in the suspicious jacket. Upon hearing this, all
the soldiers went into heightened alert. The Palestinian tried to explain that
the wire hanging out from his shirt was from a TV remote control, which only
made the Israeli soldiers more suspicious, to say the least. A command was
given. The IDF soldiers pointed their guns at the suspicious Palestinian man.
The officer said, "If you move one inch, we will blast you down."
The man was ordered to back up away from the
checkpoint and away from everyone. From a safe distance, he was ordered to
remove his coat, which revealed a fully loaded suicide bomb vest. He was then
ordered to strip down to his underwear, just in case there was a second bomb.
The would-be suicide bomber was taken into custody and everyone was safe.
Itchy had been at the checkpoint just moments before,
where IDF soldiers check cars and IDs with the utmost respect for Palestinians,
even when they know any one of them may be wearing a suicide belt: We treat
everyone like humans. We don't touch anything in cars. We show respect. They
move things if we want to see things we are not allowed to touch. We stand
behind them as they move things for us. If we suspect something is wrong, we
check with metal detectors, and if something is wrong, we go up the command
chain for permission to search further. We ask for everything and only touch
something if something is very not right. The procedures they follow obviously
work well.
These soldiers saved countless lives by
preventing a suicide bomber from striking his target somewhere in central
Israel, but they did not celebrate, as most people would have expected: "We
were not scared and we acted better than people expect because we have good
training and good officers in control. There were no high-fives. We did not win
a football game. We did our job and we are ready to do it again. There was no
party and that's the way it should be."
Somewhere in
Israel, families are continuing to have birthday parties thanks to the bravery
of soldiers like Itchy and his battalion who catch would-be terrorists. The
soldiers on the front lines in the war on terror in Israel, Iraq, the US and
everywhere else in the world all deserve our respect and appreciation. The next
time you see a soldier, take a moment to look that brave man or woman in the
eye and simply say, "Thank you," because that soldier, unbeknownst to you, may
have already saved your life.
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©2007 Light Unto Nations .org |
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