The Cast Lead offensive in Gaza marked the first time in years that the IDF finally went to war and fought as one does in war, IDF Chief Rabbi Brigadier-General Avichai Ronsky said Thursday.
In a reply to international criticism of the IDF's actions, Ronsky said: "The IDF in Cast Lead operated as in war and not as in a [limited] operation or an arrest. This is in contrast to other operations that were carried out on other fronts and in Gaza as well. With a large scale attack by 80 planes that bombed various places there, followed by artillery fire and mortars and tanks and so forth, as in a war."
The Rabbi said that war places soldiers in situations where they must overcome their rational responses: situations in which they could lose their lives and yet they must fight, and their strength of spirit is critical in order to win.
"Every soldier fought with his entire heart and soul,” he said. “This includes courage of course, but it also includes fighting with everything you've got. Fighting in order to win the battle.”
Rabbi Ronsky at the ceremony / Israel news photo -- Karnei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva
Rabbi Ronsky spoke at a Torah scroll welcoming ceremony at Karnei Shomron Hesder Yeshiva, held in memory of Yosef Fink of blessed memory, a graduate of the yeshiva who was abducted by Hizbullah in 1986 along with his friend Rachamim Levy-Alshech. The two men's bodies were returned in 1996.
Sgt. Yosef Fink of blessed memory
Also attending the event were relatives of Major Roi Klein of blessed memory, a hero of the Second Lebanon War.
The Fink family was very moved by the event. Yosef's mother said that after 23 years she has a feeling of closure: “We were very touched by the large event organized by the yeshiva in his memory. It was also an opportunity to see his many friends who honored us with their presence. Despite the difficulty in thinking that today Yossi should have looked like them, with a family and children, there is a feeling of closing a circle and continuity through the Torah study and the Torah welcoming ceremony in his memory.”