Yesterday I made a shiva call to the mourning family of soldier Barel Hadaria Shmueli.
I heard the words of his mother, a mother unwilling to accept consolations from officers and commanders who gave the order that bound her son's hands and led to his death. A mother who is not silent. A mother who says the things we all think.
She did not spare anyone, neither the ministers nor the police commissioner, neither the prime minister nor the speaker of the Knesset. From the place of mourners where she sits, the only thing that interests her is the life of her son. The lives of all the soldiers who were with him in the unit.
And I saw them, I saw the soldiers from Barel's unit coming to her one by one as if to comfort, but really to get strength. To hear the truth spoken without fear. To get strength from someone who says in plain language what everyone else is thinking.
I saw paratroopers and Golani fighters who did not know Barel and his unit, make a pilgrimage to her and tell her about projects they are doing in memory of her son whose death touched everyone's hearts.
She does not want to be a leader. She wants to stay in the simplicity of her life, but the public won't let her. It stands by her house, waiting for her to come down and tell the sheer truth that her mouth speaks in the moments when she is not crying.
She does not want to be a leader, she does not want to be everyone's voice. She wants everyone to speak without fear. Let them tell the truth clearly and without fear, that no more soldiers be killed because of the delusional instructions of irresponsible commanders.
Her questions are difficult and poignant. Questions that join the questions of Hadar Goldin's family.
How is it possible that the Israeli government feeds the killers of its soldiers? How is it possible that the Israeli government sends them huge trucks of building materials which are used to build terror tunnels? How are more and more fishing grounds opened to them when her soldier is killed by their shooting? How can we give them a loan of $500 million on favorable terms? Will the Israeli government give the bereaved mother one million dollars under the same conditions? Why do soldiers' killers get such a gift on a silver platter? Who has lost their sanity here?
She told us that the Prime Minister had sent her a letter of condolence and she tore it in pain and returned it to the messenger. She does not need any more letters of condolence. If there is anything that will comfort her somewhat in her time of insurmountable loss it is action on the part of her government - but this is not happening. They only add salt to her painful and bleeding wounds. So she tore up his letter, and rightly so.
When I left their home I told myself to take her courage and replicate it. Her call should be the call of us all. Her courage should be the courage of us all.
We must all shout “Enough with the ridiculous instructions that endanger the lives of the soldiers!” Politics must be removed from the IDF. Left-wing organizations that weaken the IDF's spirit must be removed. Those who bind the soldiers' hands must be expelled from the IDF. They should be excluded from the commanders' courses. Politics should be excluded from the army.
If there is a real reason why it is worthwhile to block the traffic on our highways it is this reason. Signs should be hung over every bridge, "Release the soldiers' hands!" Free the IDF from the politics of the Left. Signs should be hung at every intersection. Write on every Facebook page. Even if the sign is taken down, we will make it anew. The whole country will see this sign everywhere, until it penetrates, does its work and achieves its aim.
