Golani soldiers on run from Hermon to Eilat
Golani soldiers on run from Hermon to EilatFlash 90
Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz, whose two sons Uriel and Eliraz fell defending Israel, congratulates on Arutz Sheva the young men who are enlisting this morning to the Golani Brigade, the brigade where four of her sons served.

"It's great excitement," she says. "Golani is my home, my four sons served in the Golani reconnaissance unit and my two sons-in-law served in Egoz. When I hear Golani, when I see the color of the yellow and the green, it makes my heart flutter every time anew.

"This was the place my sons dreamed of, fought and fell within the framework of this brigade. But Golani isn't only a home, Golani has roots, Golani is a heritage, Golani you find from the Hermon in the north to the south. Golani is a brigade closely involved in building this country, with the blood we sacrificed so that we can continue to live."

Miriam Peretz
Miriam PeretzEliran Aharon

Miriam remembers the night her sons were drafted into the army, "How excited I was when I accompanied them, what prayers parents utter for them today, how excited they are, how much they pray in their hearts, how they pray only one prayer - that he will return home safely and that the boys and girls will return home safely. I remember I accompanied Uriel, my eldest son; Eliezer (Miriam's husband) was still alive and the night before we didn't fall asleep.

"We lit candles, he went to the synagogue, and I remember he stood up and opened the ark, how exciting. You send your child to - this isn't just a mission - you send him to this great thing called a mission for the people of Israel and you pray he comes back okay.

"We all know how many Golani fallen there are; there's no battle where they were not there. And now they're in Gaza and the Lebanese area and Shechem and Jenin, everywhere - so these prayers...it's a day of excitement, prayer, memory. and pride. This brown beret, this heat, this land, this earth, the roots, it's my Golani."

Peretz participated yesterday in the closing ceremony of the Uriel Company at the Command and Staff College in Or Etzion, where her son studied. "I said in the ceremony to those teenagers that I wish them that the orders they receive will be a peace order and that the rally call to which they answer will be a call to life. And I think that there's no greater blessing than the blessing that I always blessed my sons before they left the house for the army - May the L-rd bless you and keep you - that is the blessing of the Kohanim - that they will return home safely."