"Do you know how the Germans were defeated?" Soldier S' asks his company mate sarcastically. "Cold, cold, and some more cold." This is the most difficult sentence heard this week on the soldier's front, on the border with Lebanon. This time it is not a cruel enemy like the German army, but our own people, the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who fiercely protect the eight million citizens of the State of Israel.
In recent days, the temperatures have been dropping at the war front in the north of the country, as well as at the fighting front in the south - where the soldiers are exposed to wind and rainstorms coming from the sea and the open areas. Even though the conditions are already challenging, in the swamps and under the heavy rains, most of all - the suffering of the soldier who is imbued with motivation - his entire ambition is to wipe out the Hamas terrorist organization, but the lack of thermal clothing and electric batteries makes him shiver with cold.
The mood is good and morale is high in all the assembly areas and bases, and also among the soldiers guarding the outposts, but when you meet them and talk to them for more than a few moments, you realize that the cold wears them out.
To this end, last week the charitable organization "Vaad Hatzdaka" – The charity committee, launched a wide operation from the south of the country to the northern point on the border with Hermon and Lebanon, in order to raise resources and add more and more aid boxes for the soldiers, which include comprehensive thermal clothing, electric batteries for the field, insulated tents and hermetic sleeping bags. In addition, the organization's volunteers distribute gas balloons and coffee kits to each battalion, Swiss knives for logistical needs and mobile chargers. "This is the only way the soldiers will be able to protect us," says one of the volunteers who has now returned from distributing 450 sets of thermal clothing to the soldiers on the border of Lebanon.
The organization's volunteers meet the soldiers in the field, hear from them about all types of needs, and write down every detail. At the aid center of the "Charity Committee" the needs are gathered according to the requests of the soldiers and commanders, and equipment is immediately ordered from the relevant suppliers. Backpacks that are lighter than the backpacks distributed in IDF stores are also purchased by the organization, for the comfort of the soldiers.
"I think it is necessary to provide the soldiers also with some comfort and pampering, and above all care for their survival! Every fighting soldier is a diamond who will receive everything he needs from us," concludes the CEO of the organization. "We just ask anyone who can, to help us to provide the soldiers with their needs, to assist in this important activity. Now, on the Hanukkah holiday, when we sit in our warm home with our loved ones, we must not forget the warriors in those cold conditions. The equation is very clear: a soldier suffering from the cold cannot protect us."