One Sabbath last month, I stood on the small hill adjacent to the checkpoint located next to my base, guarding over my friends who were busy checking passing Arab cars. About an hour before the end of my shift, we heard over the radio that an Arab had opened fire on the Bekaot checkpoint, only a short twenty minutes away. Suddenly, the air filled with screaming sirens calling soldiers to action. Jeeps, Hummers and other military vehicles suddenly came zooming out of my base. We immediately received orders to shut down our checkpoint and confiscate the Arab car keys and identification cards. The entire Jordan Valley was a closed zone; no one was allowed in or out, or allowed to travel in between.
About five minutes later, we heard news that struck us like lightning: "Good news and bad news. The good news is that the terrorist has been killed, but the checkpoint commander has gone up on High."
We were shocked; we could not believe that a soldier from our battalion had been killed. No soldier in the eight-year history of Nachal Charedi had even been seriously injured, and now one had been killed while trying to guard our nation.
We soon received orders to open the checkpoint, allowing Arabs to only travel into Area A - which is supposedly under the full civil and security control of the basically non-existent Palestinian Authority - but not towards the areas under Israeli control. I finished my shift about 1:30 and then was sent immediately to Bekaot to replace the unit whose commander had been killed just a couple hours earlier.
When we got to the checkpoint, we were given orders to reopen it, as it had been closed since the murder. We protested the order and said that the Arabs would see the opening of the checkpoint as a sign of weakness, and therefore it should remain closed indefinitely. But orders are orders, and we opened the checkpoint. Even though we were forced to open the checkpoint, we checked cars and trucks very slowly and very carefully. We made every truck take down all of its produce for inspection, every bag and package was opened and searched. We usually would not have gone through the trouble, but this was no ordinary day. Every Arab male approaching was also told to raise his shirt at a safe distance to make sure he did not have a weapon or explosives belt.
Our anger intensified after we talked to one of the first soldiers who arrived immediately after the attack. He told us that they saw many Arabs smiling and laughing after the soldier was killed.
We thought that now, finally, there would be a great operation against the Arab nationalists operating in the Jordan Valley. We thought that, finally, there would be a full invasion into the Arab areas to collect their weapons and arrest their fighters. We were hoping that, maybe, they would even allow us to destroy the houses of the enemy fighters.
We were hoping for strong condemnation of the government's insistence on giving weapons to our enemy. I would not be surprised to learn that the gun that killed Commander Ro'i Farjoun came from the hands of Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak or Ehud Olmert. The men who gave, and continue to give, weapons to our enemies should be brought to trial for their terrible crimes. They should be held responsible for the deaths of the countless soldiers who have been murdered in the last 15 years or so. They give weapons to the enemy and then force us, the soldiers, to clean up the mess.
When we are sent to clean up the mess, they then add to their atrocities by tying our hands. Today, soldiers are very much afraid to use their weapons for fear of being imprisoned. Was the terrorist within 30 meters? Were there civilians next to him? Was he pointing the gun at you, or just maybe moving it? If we see an Arab holding a Molotov cocktail, we must ask ourselves if his arm is held high enough for us to shoot him. If he is not in the process of throwing it, shooting him would be murder. Even if he already threw one, and you know that he is not just holding the second one for fun, you must wait until he is definitely in the act.
Do you believe what you are reading? The ones who created this "morality" should be taught what real morality is - at their trials. The left-wing, the anti-Jewish nationalists, who swap our land for paper, who arm our foes with weapons, money, electricity and water - they are the ones who killed Ro'i. Needless to say, the great operation we were hoping for did not come, nor will it. Neither will the condemnations. We go on as if nothing happened at all.
We, the soldiers, want to fight. We know for what we are fighting and for whom we are fighting. We go into battle equipped with our training, weapons and a very deep faith, which is actually the most powerful weapon we have. When we say in Shacharit, the Morning Prayer, "Some with chariots, some with horses, but we - in the name of HaShem, our God, call out," we mean it. While the nations of the world put their faith in weapons, we lift our weapons with faith in God and with the faith of God.
When we read in parshat Shoftim, "When you go out to battle against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, do not fear them, for HaShem, your God is with you." (Deuteronomy 20:1) We don't just read these words, we believe these words; we know that HaShem Elokai Tzivakot Yisrael - HaShem, the Almighty God of Israel - who is the ultimate Commander-in-Chief, believes in us; and thus, we fight with even more zeal. We do not give up hope.
About five minutes later, we heard news that struck us like lightning: "Good news and bad news. The good news is that the terrorist has been killed, but the checkpoint commander has gone up on High."
We were shocked; we could not believe that a soldier from our battalion had been killed. No soldier in the eight-year history of Nachal Charedi had even been seriously injured, and now one had been killed while trying to guard our nation.
We soon received orders to open the checkpoint, allowing Arabs to only travel into Area A - which is supposedly under the full civil and security control of the basically non-existent Palestinian Authority - but not towards the areas under Israeli control. I finished my shift about 1:30 and then was sent immediately to Bekaot to replace the unit whose commander had been killed just a couple hours earlier.
When we got to the checkpoint, we were given orders to reopen it, as it had been closed since the murder. We protested the order and said that the Arabs would see the opening of the checkpoint as a sign of weakness, and therefore it should remain closed indefinitely. But orders are orders, and we opened the checkpoint. Even though we were forced to open the checkpoint, we checked cars and trucks very slowly and very carefully. We made every truck take down all of its produce for inspection, every bag and package was opened and searched. We usually would not have gone through the trouble, but this was no ordinary day. Every Arab male approaching was also told to raise his shirt at a safe distance to make sure he did not have a weapon or explosives belt.
Our anger intensified after we talked to one of the first soldiers who arrived immediately after the attack. He told us that they saw many Arabs smiling and laughing after the soldier was killed.
We thought that now, finally, there would be a great operation against the Arab nationalists operating in the Jordan Valley. We thought that, finally, there would be a full invasion into the Arab areas to collect their weapons and arrest their fighters. We were hoping that, maybe, they would even allow us to destroy the houses of the enemy fighters.
We were hoping for strong condemnation of the government's insistence on giving weapons to our enemy. I would not be surprised to learn that the gun that killed Commander Ro'i Farjoun came from the hands of Yitzchak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Ehud Barak or Ehud Olmert. The men who gave, and continue to give, weapons to our enemies should be brought to trial for their terrible crimes. They should be held responsible for the deaths of the countless soldiers who have been murdered in the last 15 years or so. They give weapons to the enemy and then force us, the soldiers, to clean up the mess.
When we are sent to clean up the mess, they then add to their atrocities by tying our hands. Today, soldiers are very much afraid to use their weapons for fear of being imprisoned. Was the terrorist within 30 meters? Were there civilians next to him? Was he pointing the gun at you, or just maybe moving it? If we see an Arab holding a Molotov cocktail, we must ask ourselves if his arm is held high enough for us to shoot him. If he is not in the process of throwing it, shooting him would be murder. Even if he already threw one, and you know that he is not just holding the second one for fun, you must wait until he is definitely in the act.
Do you believe what you are reading? The ones who created this "morality" should be taught what real morality is - at their trials. The left-wing, the anti-Jewish nationalists, who swap our land for paper, who arm our foes with weapons, money, electricity and water - they are the ones who killed Ro'i. Needless to say, the great operation we were hoping for did not come, nor will it. Neither will the condemnations. We go on as if nothing happened at all.
We, the soldiers, want to fight. We know for what we are fighting and for whom we are fighting. We go into battle equipped with our training, weapons and a very deep faith, which is actually the most powerful weapon we have. When we say in Shacharit, the Morning Prayer, "Some with chariots, some with horses, but we - in the name of HaShem, our God, call out," we mean it. While the nations of the world put their faith in weapons, we lift our weapons with faith in God and with the faith of God.
When we read in parshat Shoftim, "When you go out to battle against your enemy, and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you, do not fear them, for HaShem, your God is with you." (Deuteronomy 20:1) We don't just read these words, we believe these words; we know that HaShem Elokai Tzivakot Yisrael - HaShem, the Almighty God of Israel - who is the ultimate Commander-in-Chief, believes in us; and thus, we fight with even more zeal. We do not give up hope.