Retiring Air Force commander says he remains concerned about Iranian threat, hints future missions may prove extent of Israel's reach. 'The IAF is outstanding, and it is prepared for any mission the country will task it with,' he says
Hanan Greenberg

"Nothing is impossible. Air Force officers are providing remarkable responses to the various issues at hand, and this includes dealing with long ranges," said outgoing Air Force Chief Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedy on Monday in addressing the Iranian threat.

"The IAF is outstanding, and it is prepared for any mission the country will task it with," he said.

"The Iranian issue troubles me greatly and I take it very seriously. I pay considerable attention to the rhetoric of (Iranian President) Ahmadinejad and (Iranian Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah) Khamenei as well as that of the moderates, and I listen to what they say they are doing in the open and estimate what they are doing behind closed doors.

"I see how they are advancing their capabilities in fields like aviation and cruise missiles as well as ground capabilities. I think we should be taking their statements very seriously."

Shkedy, who will be stepping down from his post on Tuesday and returning to civilian life, has served as commander of the IAF for a four year term. He will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, who has served in a number of key positions in the IAF.

"Much is being done at the moment, and the results speak for themselves."

Shkedy's tenure was marked by numerous high-profile events, mostly centering on operations in Gaza
and abroad.

The Maj. Gen. only vaguely addressed the IAF airstrike in Syria last September.

"I had the great privilege of commanding the Air Force during these unique days, without mentioning those matters which we do not discuss," he said.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 12:09 PM | Permalink

PA Terrorists in Gaza Kill Seventy-Year-Old Israeli Woman by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

(IsraelNN.com) A 70-year-old woman was killed early Monday evening when Palestinian Authority terrorists fired a rocket into the western Negev community she was visiting. Her name has yet to be released.
There was nothing for medics to do but find the woman's son.

The enemy rocket slammed into the residential area of Moshav Yesha, in the Negev's Eshkol region, around 6:00 pm. It landed in close proximity to the victim, killing her almost instantly. She was in the community with her son, visiting a friend. When the Red Alert siren went off, the visitors took refuge in a nearby home, but for a reason that is still not clear, the woman who was killed was standing outside the building when the rocket landed.

A paramedic who was on the scene said that they got ready to move the minute the Red Alert was sounded. Unfortunately, he said, there was nothing for medics to do but find the woman's son in the house and give him the tragic news.

Sounding furious and frustrated shortly after the Kassam rocket attack, Eshkol Regional Council Mayor Chaim Yellin told reporters, "Why are you interested in what's going on here only now? We are at war! Period. We have been at war for years. And the government does nothing!"

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 12:04 PM | Permalink

The IDF’s new face

Today, army’s combat troops dominated by names like Oleg and Muhammad
Eitan Haber

Welcome to the IDF 2008. The combat forces of this IDF are made up of, mostly, residents of outlaying areas, the children of new immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union, Bedouins, Druze – what we used to refer to as “the second Israel” once upon a time. Well, that “second Israel” has moved up.

When we look at the casualties of the latest military operations, and maybe even before that, we can see the IDF’s up-to-date image: Oleg, Leonid, Maxim, Peter, Ahmed, Muhammad, Wahid, Wasim. Their parents live in places like Kiryat Gat, Afula, Horfish, and the al-Huzeil tribe.

Meanwhile, the dictionary of names saw the disappearance of the likes of Ran and Shahar and Shahak, Tsafrir and Segev and Yinon, Gonen and Netzer, just like we saw the disappearance of Herzliya and Ramat Hasharon, Tel Aviv and Netanya, Ramat Gan, Bnei Zion, and Bnei Atarot.

Tough tests ahead

This does not mean, heaven forbid, that there are no combat soldiers these days who come from the abovementioned communities and from other places. There certainly some, even many, and they are good ones – yet the “trend,” the direction, and the tone in the IDF today are set by members of the “second Israel.”

If you think about it, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi is also an example of this – the son of immigrant parents, grew up in a moshav community, a member of the Golani Brigade, which for generations has elicited praise but was not considered for a long time as the army’s “cream of the crop.” Many of Ashkenazi’s predecessors were from the country’s “Mayflower” families and came from what were considered the true elite units.

Is this good for the IDF? We should hope and assume that it is. In any case, nobody can change this trend. We should accept it as it is and do everything in order to become better, because there are apparently still difficult tests ahead of us.

Leaders in Israel have always said that the “current generation” is better than their own generation when it comes to the military and to civilian life. Now, the burden of proof is on the “current generation.”

When we have buried the last elitist snob like you it will be us the "Second Israel" that will be fighting in the IDF and living in Israel.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 09:51 AM | Permalink

1 killed by mortar shell in western Negev kibbutz

Two mortar shells fired by Palestinians from northern Gaza Strip land in Kibbutz Kfar Aza Friday evening, killing one person and injuring three others. Mortars land near house, local community hall

Shmulik Hadad
Published: 05.09.08, 19:14 / Israel News

One person was killed in Kibbutz Kfar Aaza Friday evening after a mortar shell fired form Gaza hit a house in the kibbutz.

Two mortars fired by Palestinian gunmen landed in the kibbutz, one fell close to the local community hall and the other landed on a house.

Three people were wounded in the attack; one sustained moderate injuries and the other two were lightly injured.

MK Shai Hermseh, a member of the kibbutz, said that the man killed was inside his house at the time of the attack. "This situation is unbearable, not fortifying our houses or taking any action, we live in a firing range," he stated.

Three Qassam rockets and several mortars have been fired at the area since the morning hours.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 09:47 AM | Permalink

We can get lost in the latest political scandal or the misguided efforts of our leaders to appease our enemies and loose sight of some basic facts.

G-d bless Am Israel

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 04:29 PM | Permalink

Peres Surprised by Post-‘Disengagement’ Attacks

(IsraelNN.com) President Shimon Peres spoke to Haaretz on Tuesday and admitted that he “did not think we’d have so many problems” in reaching peace with the Palestinian Authority. “I did not imagine that we would leave Gaza and they would fire Kassams from there,” he said. Peres said he was also surprised by the strong support for Hamas following the 2005 “Disengagement.”

In response to the interviewer's question, Peres said that he blamed PA Arabs for the ongoing conflict more than he had in the past. “We became more flexible and they became more extreme,” he said.

To the leaders of Israel if you didn't think they were going to attack us from Gaza, here is a clue the attacks from Judea and Samaria will make Gaza seem like child's play.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 01:41 PM | Permalink

Bereaved father: Druze are equal only in IDF

Nawaf Nabuani of Galilee village of Julis, who lost his son during military navigation, says motivation among his community to serve in army skyrocketing despite recent tensions
Ahiya Raved

The first day of 2008 began as a regular day for Nawaf Nabuani, a junior high school teacher from the Druze town of Julis in the western Galilee. He entered the ninth grade classroom to teach mathematics, and during the break, the cellular phone in his pocket began ringing. A young man asked him about his son Tamir, a soldier serving in the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit.

"I wasn't worried at the time, I knew Tamir was in the middle of a navigation. I was more concerned about his brother, who was training with the Nahal Brigade," Nawaf recounts.

As the class ended, he noticed that the same young man had called once again. And then his oldest son called as well. "Dad," he told him, "people are calling me and asking about Tamir. Has something happened?"

Nawaf tried to check with the team commander, but got no answers. He already knew that the town-major people were making their way to his house.

"I entered another class, but I could no longer think straight. I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. When one of the teachers came and asked me to come to the principal's room, my legs shook. I saw the town-major and others, and I knew that the worst piece of news of all has arrived."

Several hours earlier, Tamir's commanders had failed to locate him on his communication device, which he carried with him to a lone navigation on Mount Negev. The Israel Air Force rescue unit was dispatched to the area and found his body at the foot of the cliff. The next day he was laid to rest at his village.

There are now four military graves in the small grave plot belonging to the Nabuani family in the Julis cemetery. Walking between them, Nawaf feels the pride of someone who has made a breakthrough. Here is the relative who was the first Druze soldier in the paratroopers' unit. Here are other cousins who fell in Israel's wars. Here is Tamir's grave.

"If, God forbid, we are forced to dig another grave," he says, "there won't be any room here. The village had 23 fallen soldiers since 1956, but has yet to have a military cemetery. We're working on it."

No regrets

Tamir's road to Sayeret Matkal was not an easy one. In the middle of the ninth grade he decided to join the military boarding school at Haifa's Reali High School, and although he registered late, he managed to fill the gaps. He then passed the exams and the pre-conscription evaluations.

"I told him, 'No matter where you are, in which reconnaissance company, the only important thing is that you are among the best,'" the bereaved father says.

"I trusted him. He was a strong and responsible guy. Since the age of 12 he used to work in the summer and provide for himself almost all alone. He worked for a contractor. He would climb a four-story scaffolding.

"I told him not to tell many people that he was part of the commando unit, so he didn’t. I would just ask him each time if he was healthy, he told me he was, that the training was going well."

Only after his personal tragedy, Nawaf began hearing stories about his son.

"His commander from the recruit service came and told us about a fire which broke out in a tent. Everyone began shouting and call the commanders. Tamir, with a blanket, stood up and put out the fire. He was then taken to the hospital because he inhaled smoke. But this is how he was.

"The service at Sayeret Matkal was good for him. It's not just a place which develops fighting abilities, but the mind as well. I had no regrets about sending him there. I still have no regrets. Don’t forget that we believe in faith, that it's all written from above and no one can change it. It calms the person down."

Many picture of Tamir hang on the house's walls in Julis. From the military boarding school, from the different stages he took. One of the walls carries a large oil painting and a poem in Arabic. The son who died asks his mother not to be angry over his departure, not to cry too much. And if the neighbors ask, she should tell them he will be back.

"Of course he won't be back," Nawaf adds, translating the song into Hebrew.

'Peki'in events did not hurt motivation'

Three Druze soldiers from the Galilee have died in less than two years. The first day of the Second Lebanon War saw the death of Wassim Nazal, of the village of Yanuh, in one of the Hummer jeeps attacked in the kidnapping incident. In January, Nabuani was killed during a navigation, and last month, Sayef Bisan of the village of Jat, was killed in a battle with terrorists near Kissufim.

Despite all this, the Druze public reports of particularly high motivation – more than 85% of the young Julis residents are inducted to the army, and more than 65% join combat units.

Nawaf Nabuani says this is the community and family's heritage. "The young see the adults and want to be like them. In our family alone there are 23 officers today, two of them lieutenant-colonels. The young ones see and learn."

Two of Nawaf's older sons, Kamal and Sari, serve as career officers. The youngest son, Nawaf hopes, will follow in his brother's footsteps and may even be accepted into Sayeret Matkal. In the recent war, when Tamir had just joined the IDF, four of the family members were in the army, some of them reservists, some career offers and some regular soldiers.

The recent tensions – led by the violent events in Peki'in – did not harm the motivation, the bereaved father says.

"The Defense Ministry and the IDF are the only places in Israel where Druze are really considered completely equal," he says. "A Druze soldier can reach any unit in the IDF."

He opposes demonstrations and aggressiveness, but calls on the State to close the gaps. "No one deludes himself that one day all the gaps will be filled. But the government ministers must do their homework, must find out what is missing and do everything for us to receive these things."

I want to make it clear that the Druze have paid a very high price for the friendship between the two people that extend back to Moses and Yithro in the Torah.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 07:36 AM | Permalink

Memorial Day 5768 (2008) Honors Israel's Brave Soldiers
2 Iyar 5768, 07 May 08 12:51
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) Commemoration of Yom HaZikaron, Israel's Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers and terrorism victims, began Tuesday evening at 8 PM with a country-wide siren and minute of silence. Memorial ceremonies took place in towns and cities around the country.

The major ceremony took place at the Western Wall, with the participation of Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger, as well as President Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi.

With flags at half-mast, a second siren is to be sounded Wednesday morning, at 11 AM, once again bringing all public activity to a standstill. The siren will mark the beginning of memorial ceremonies at the 43 military cemeteries around the country. A Knesset Member or government official will speak at each ceremony.

The Defense Ministry reports the number of fallen in the Jews' war for the Land of Israel since 1860 as 22,437. This number includes soldiers - not civilians - who fell since 1948, as well as all Jews killed between 1860 and 1948 in the struggle for the Land. The total number is 132 higher than last year, including 31 who were murdered or fell in battle since last year's Memorial Day, as well as others who died of their wounds or were recognized as IDF war casualties this year.

The year 1860 was chosen because it was then that Jews began to move outside Jerusalem's Old City walls and build new neighborhoods there.

In the Binyamin region (southern Shomron), the central Memorial Day ceremony will take place in the old British police station on Patriarchs Way, otherwise known as Wadi Haramiyeh. The 70-minute ceremony will be run by the girls of the Neriah Ulpanah high school, and will end at 11 AM with the nation-wide siren. Eighty Binyamin residents who have been killed in Israel's wars or murdered by Arab terrorists will be memorialized.

The names of all Israel's fallen soldiers and terrorist victims will be broadcast on Israel's public television channel Tuesday evening and Wednesday, one after the other, for 4-5 seconds each.

Special memorials will also be held at the Clandestine Immigration Museum in Haifa, the Acre Prison for Underground Prisoners, and at the Police Section of Mt. Herzl. A special ceremony will also be held in memory of Jews murdered by terrorists and anti-Semites around the world. Some 200 such Jews will be remembered at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, in an event organized by the Jewish Agency, the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish National Fund, and the UJC of North America. A new monument with the victims' names was dedicated on the same occasion last year.

Both Memorial Day and Independence Day are commemorated two days earlier than usual this year, in accordance with a ruling by the Chief Rabbinate and Knesset to ensure that Independence Day not fall on the Sabbath.

History of Israel's Fallen
The 1948-49 War of Independence was Israel's costliest war, with more than 6,000 dead - one percent of the Jewish population at the time - and 15,000 wounded.

During the ensuing seven years of relative quiet, 101 Israelis were killed in "1,339 cases of armed clashes with Egyptian armed forces, 435 cases of incursion from Egyptian-controlled territory, and 172 cases of sabotage perpetrated by Egyptian military units and fedayeen [terrorists] in Israel. So said Israel's Ambassador to the UN Abba Eban to the UN Security Council on October 30, 1956 - the day after Israel began the Sinai Campaign in response to Egypt's violation of international agreements by blockading the Israeli port of Eilat. A total of 231 Israeli soldiers died in the eight days of fighting.

The Six-Day War broke out on June 5, 1967. Along with the stunning victories, over 770 Israelis were killed.

Then began the period of the War of Attrition, which claimed 424 soldiers and more than 100 civilians. A ceasefire was declared on August 8, 1970.

Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on Yom Kippur of 1973. The IDF ultimately emerged victorious, but a total of 2,688 soldiers were killed.

In June 1982, in response to continued terrorist attacks and Katyusha shellings from across the Lebanese border, as well as an assassination attempt upon Israel's late Ambassador to Great Britain Shlomo Argov, Israel attacked the terrorists in Lebanon in what was known as Operation Peace for Galilee. Close to 460 soldiers were killed between June and December 1982, and another 760 in daily ambushes against Israeli forces over the next two and a half years.

Between December 1987, when the first Arab "intifada" broke out, and the signing of the Oslo Accords in late 1993, 90 Israelis were murdered.

Between the Oslo signing and the beginning of what became known as the Oslo War in September, 2000, 251 Israelis were murdered by terrorists.

Another 1,320 have been felled by Palestinian Authority terrorists and gunmen since the Oslo War began in September 2000.
www.IsraelNationalNews.com
© Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 02:51 PM | Permalink

Monday, May 5, 2008 Shas says will resign over any concessions on Jerusalem

Shas says will resign over any concessions on Jerusalem
Roni Sofer YNET Published: 05.05.08, 17:04 / Israel News
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3539849,00.html

Shas officials addressed the reported progress in negotiations with the
Palestinian Authority on Monday, telling Ynet that any talks on Jerusalem,
whether pertaining to its borders or the matter of sovereignty, will lead to
Shas' immediate resignation from the government.

Shas has made similar statements in the past.

Get out of the government now for any money you get for your yeshivas will be money with ?Jewish blood on it, so then what good will it do you in the world to come.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 01:07 PM | Permalink

Monday, May 5, 2008 Channel 2 TV: Rice Pushing For Announcement of Borders Next Week

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 5 May, 2008

Israel Television Channel Two News correspondent Udi Segal reported this
evening that Secretary of State Rice is pressing Prime Minister Olmert to
announce an agreement on the final borders with the Palestinians next week.

Segal explained that Rice is pushing for the move both because of the visit
of President Bush to the region but also out of an interest to make as much
"progress" as possible before PM Olmert might be neutralized by developments
in the latest criminal investigation.

May G-D save us from Rice, Bush and Olmert.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 01:05 PM | Permalink

Monday, May 5, 2008 GAZA: ISRAELI AID AND HAMAS ATTACKS

GAZA: ISRAELI AID AND HAMAS ATTACKS
(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)
Monday, May 05, 2008

In the past 24 hours, there were two intensive barrages of Kassam rocket
attacks aimed at Sderot and the western Negev communities. Two rockets
landed in Sderot, hitting a cemetery and damaging headstones while one hit a
supermarket, causing structural damage. There were five shock victims. Today
(Monday), 5.5.08, there were three hits in Sderot, including one that landed
in agricultural lands near Sapir College.

Also today, 75 humanitarian aid trucks carrying vaccines, electric wires,
hygiene and food products, and other materials were transferred to the Gaza
Strip via the Sufa crossing point.

Israel is facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip
while at the same time it is being attacked from that territory. Israel
holds Hamas fully responsible for these attacks and their consequences.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 01:04 PM | Permalink

The following were my comments as given on the Middle East Radio Forum today.

" This last week we again honored those that were murdered in the Holocaust and we paid tribute to those that fought in the forest and the ghettos of Europe.

Never Again.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 07:23 PM | Permalink

For those who would like to hear me on the radio, I am very pleased to announce that I will be having a weekly appearance on the Middle East Radio Forum, the show is hosted By William Wolf.

You can listen to the show by going to the host radio program web page http://kknt960.townhall.com/

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 03:21 PM | Permalink

Friday, May 2, 2008

Analysis: Edging toward 'silent acceptance' of a truce
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST May. 2, 2008
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209626990535&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

When it comes to Egypt's proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Israeli
defense establishment is united on at least one assessment - Hamas has
everything to gain from six months of quiet in the Strip.
The differences begin to surface when officials start pondering the pros and
cons for Israel of the proffered truce.

Ultimately, the decision on whether to accept Cairo's proposal will be up to
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The position of the IDF's Southern Command has been quite clear all along.
OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant has said on more than one occasion
in recent closed-door meetings that Hamas would use a cease-fire to rebuild
its military infrastructure, extend the range of its rockets and fortify its
positions ahead of a future Israeli invasion.

IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has yet to make his
opinion publicly known. He has, however, objected to a large-scale operation
in Gaza since taking office a little over a year ago and as such may prefer
a six-month cease-fire over the alternative, which is a continuation of
hostilities and an eventual Israeli invasion.
There are, however, other considerations that are not purely military.

One is the fate of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit. Officials involved in
the truce talks told The Jerusalem Post this week that the soldier's release
would be dramatically expedited were the cease-fire accepted by Israel.

In addition, the cease-fire could enable Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas to regain a foothold in the Gaza Strip for the first time
since Hamas violently took it over last June.
Under the package approved by Hamas and the other Palestinian factions, the
Rafah crossing to Egypt would reopen according to the agreement reached by
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in 2005.

Based on that agreement, European monitors would deploy at the crossing and
assist officers from the PA's Presidential Guard - loyal to Abbas - in
running the border terminal.
From an Egyptian point of view, the reopening of Rafah is symbolic for a
number of reasons.

First, it lifts the siege on Gaza and enables Palestinians to travel freely
in and out of the Strip. More importantly, it strengthens what Cairo calls
the "pragmatic elements" in Hamas - such as Ismail Haniyeh - and at the same
time enables Abbas to slowly reestablish a Fatah presence in Gaza.

According to an Israeli official closely involved in the talks with Cairo,
if Israel were to outright reject the cease-fire proposal this would be
interpreted as a slap in the face of President Hosni Mubarak and
Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman, who have both invested considerable
time and energy in obtaining Hamas's approval.

If Israel accepts the cease-fire, Egypt will have to play a crucial role.

One of Israel's greatest concerns with a truce is the possibility that Hamas
will continue smuggling weapons into Gaza and build up its military
infrastructure at an unprecedented rate. It will be up to Egypt to prevent
this.

In the end what is likely to happen is that Israel will "silently" accept
the offer. Olmert will not hold a press conference and announce Israel's
acceptance of the cease-fire but the message will likely be transmitted in
the talks defense official Amos Gilad holds regularly with Suleiman.

Israel also has to be concerned about its image abroad and what the
international community will say if it rejects the cease-fire.

The US, the Post has reported, is pressuring Jerusalem to wrap up the deal
ahead of President George W. Bush's visit to Israel in two weeks. And Israel
would have a tough time explaining its policies abroad if it continues
firing in Gaza when Hamas and the other factions have all announced their
readiness to lay down their weapons.

Olmert's political standing also needs to be accounted for. If he agrees to
the cease-fire and it lasts, he could use the quiet in Sderot and the rest
of the Gaza-belt communities as an asset ahead of the political turbulence
that is expected toward the end of the year.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 03:16 PM | Permalink

Thursday, May 1, 2008 Police summon PM for urgent questioning under caution

Police summon PM for urgent questioning under caution
By Haaretz Service Last update - 22:21 01/05/2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979901.html

The police have summoned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for urgent questioning
under caution, Channel 2 reported Thursday.

According to the Channel 2 report, it is still not clear which of the
ongoing criminal investigations involving the prime minister the police will
focus on in their interrogation, to begin Friday.

Questioning under caution usually indicates that police believe their
interrogation could result in an indictment.

The prime minister is facing three separate police investigations - the
"Investment Center" affair, "The house on Cremieux Street" case and
suspicions that he helped advance the interests of customers of a former
business partner, Attorney Uri Messer.

The interviews will take place over the next 48 hours, and will begin in
Olmert's house in Jerusalem Friday morning.

The affair of the house on Cremieux Street in Jerusalem is the least severe
of the criminal charges against Olmert. According to the examination carried
out by the state comptroller, Olmert received a discount of $330,000 on an
apartment he bought for $1.2 million. It will not be easy to prove a
criminal charge here.

The second affair concerns a long series of political appointments that
Olmert and his bureau made in the Small Business Authority, when he was
serving as minister of industry and trade. Here there is a suspicion of
buying power with money.

In the third affair, the gravest of the three, Olmert is suspected of a
conflict of interest when he intervened in a decision at the Industry and
Trade Ministry's Investment Center that determined that a firm was not
entitled to state benefits. After his intervention, the state transferred
tens of millions of shekels to the plant - which was represented by Olmert's
good friend and former partner, attorney Uri Messer. This case is
particularly grave because the attorney general at the time, Elyakim
Rubinstein (now a Supreme Court justice), had already warned Olmert against
intervening in decisions taken at the Investment Center when he tried to
grant benefits to a Coca-Cola plant.

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 03:11 PM | Permalink

I am honored to be here today and to share this significant experience with you. I will begin in Hebrew and will say a few words in English later on in my address.

Here, on this cursed land, saturated with the blood of our brothers and sisters, descendants of the Jewish nation;

Here, in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp, the most evil place on the face of the planet, where our people, whose only crime was being Jewish, were tortured and murdered in gas chambers and crematoria;

Here, in the place where the Nazi oppressor reduced our humanity to serial numbers - no more names, no more faces, no identity - all that remained was a number branded on the forearm;

Here in this most dreadful place, I stand on Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day, as the commander of the Israel Defense Forces.

With hundreds of Witnesses in Uniform by my side - joining the thousands of representatives of the IDF who come here every year, commanders of the ground forces, the Air Force and the Navy - the defending force of the Jewish people, reborn in its land - with tight lips, a coarse voice and tears in my eyes, yet still standing tall - I salute to the ashes of our people and vow: ‘Never Again.’

We, soldiers of the IDF, emissaries of a country and of a nation, stand here today wearing the IDF uniform and carrying the flag of the State of Israel with pride in the name of the tens of thousands of the IDF warriors and commanders. We consider ourselves the executor of the last will and testament, the dream and the silent prayer of our six million Jewish brothers and sisters whose existence was brutally expunged by the Nazi oppressor.

Major B’naya Rein, may his memory be blessed, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War, made the following journal entry during his visit to Poland in July of the year 2000:

‘I’ve arrived home, to the cemetery of the Jewish people; the cemetery of my grandfather’s family and the cemetery of my grandmother’s family. Throughout my entire journey in Poland, death has followed me. However, I know that this death has produced lives and these lives include me, you, all of us.

‘It is these lives which have provided me with the opportunity to be a solider in the State of Israel. It is these lives which have granted me the privilege to, as an Israeli solider from the State of Israel, represent all of those who have lived and are now gone’.

From here, on the soil of Auschwitz, next to thousands of representatives of the Jewish Diaspora, we join the commemoration of the legacy of the millions who perished, calling to the nations of the world and their governments:
‘Learn the lesson of this most terrible horror, and let not its seeds sprout anew. Fight Anti-Semitism and racism of any kind wherever they are, and do all that is necessary to prevent the propagation of the violence in all its forms.

Sixty-three years have passed since the end of the most horrible war humankind has ever known. Sixty-three years after the atrocity. The Star of David is no longer a mark of disgrace, but a symbol and a sign of the resurrection of the Jewish people. As the commander of the Israel Defense Forces, the fighting force of the mighty Jewish State, I stand here with pride and honor and pledge: ‘Never Again!’ Never again shall we stand helpless, crying for the mercy of others. Never again shall we beg to be defended. Never again shall we allow our sons and daughters, our parents and our grandparents to be erased from the face of the earth. Never again shall the frightened eyes of Jewish children look with ghastly dread through the
barbed-wire fences of concentration camps. Never!

We who have had the privilege of seeing the establishment and the blossoming of the State of Israel; we, who have been entrusted with the country’s fate, know that if we had had our country then, in those somber days, the Holocaust of the Jewish people would not have taken place. We remember, and will never forget, that from the killing and the destruction, from the ashes and the despair, we have risen to establish not only the Jewish State, but the military force that will forever provide security for the Jewish people, protecting it from any future attempts of persecution, torture and destruction.

These days, after sixty years of independence, the existence of an independent Jewish state is not a fact that should be taken for granted. Even today, in our region of the world, voices are heard calling for the destruction of the State of Israel. Even today, we have to continue the
struggle for our right to maintain a national home and safe haven for the Jewish people in their land.

We have learned our lesson. We take threats of leaders calling for the destruction of Israel very seriously.

From this sense of deep responsibility for our continued existence as a people in our land and for the continuity of our heritage, we have no choice but to continue the struggle. Since we are fighting for our very existence, we cannot afford to grow weary or be deterred in our struggle.

In the words of Mordechai Anielewicz, commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in his last letter on May 8th, 1943, sixty-five years ago this week: ‘It is impossible to put into words what we have been through. One thing is clear, what happened exceeded our boldest dreams. The Germans ran twice from the ghetto. One of our companies held out for 40 minutes, and
another for more than six hours. The mine set in the ‘brushmakers’ area exploded. Self-defense in the ghetto will be a reality.I have been a witness to the magnificent, heroic fighting of Jewish men in battle’.

Two days ago, I laid a wreath and saluted at the doorstep of the bunker where he commanded the uprising at Mila 18 in Warsaw. Now, I would like to dedicate some words to our colleagues from around the world who stand here with us:

I stand here today, in this heartbreaking spot, as the commander of the army of the Jewish Nation. In the name of the Israel Defense Forces I salute the six million Jews who were annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators. I vow to uphold the responsibility of the Israel Defense Forces - never again to allow Jewish blood to be spilled in vain. May the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust be forever blessed and remembered.

A people which does not know or honor its past, shrouds its future in uncertainty. Therefore, it is crucial that new generations of IDF soldiers and officers make this sacred march in honor and remembrance of our persecuted ancestors.

Standing here, on this cursed land that has witnessed the most terrible of horrors in human history, I call upon all nations’ leaders to remove human hatred from the face of the earth; to act determinedly to erase anti-Semitism around the world, preventing it from ever gaining force. Above all, each and every one of us must do their utmost to ensure that never again will we walk alone.

Here on this cursed ground, from which still cry the voices of our slain brothers, and as commander of the Israel Defense Forces of the state of the Jewish people, I salute our six million brothers and sisters, who have been persecuted, deported, tortured and cruelly murdered, and swear that ‘Jewish blood shall never again be spilled in vain!’

Blessed be the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust!

Posted by Yoni Tidi at 04:15 PM | Permalink