Michael Silam, a close friend of Master Sergeant (res.) Chen Gross, 33, from Gan Yoshiya, who fell in the collapse of a booby-trapped structure in Khan Yunis on Friday while serving in the elite Maglan unit, delivered a stirring eulogy at the funeral.
“This team is made up of people from moshavim, cities, and communities in Judea and Samaria. Jews and non-Jews, immigrants and natives - like our forefather Abraham, they don’t ask what, why, where, or how when called. They simply say: ‘Here I am.’”
Silam addressed the public with a pointed message: “Stop asking us why we’re still in reserves. Don’t ask if we’re going back in. Don’t tell us we’ve done our part and should step aside for others. And above all - do not speak around us about foreign passports or relocation. Show respect.”
“This country was bought with much blood,” he continued. “If your lungs aren’t filled with Gaza dust, if your neck doesn’t ache from nights wearing a helmet and night vision - be quiet. If what you’re about to say doesn’t give our fighters strength at the front lines - don’t say it at all.”
Describing Gross's character, Silam urged others to emulate him: “Be a bit more like Chen Gross. He didn’t talk much about why - he just acted. He understood the simple truth: ‘If someone comes to kill you, rise up to kill him first.’ That truth stares back at us in Gaza from every booby-trapped house and every tunnel - they want to kill us.”
He added, “For too many years we as Jews buried this truth, whether due to our long exile or fear of what the so-called enlightened world would say. Our generation says - enough. We won’t let it happen again. Those who say and plan to kill us must be stopped. Not maybe, not approximately. If we deny or delay, we will pay. So don’t ask us why. If a wheel is needed - I’ll be the wheel.”
Silam also turned to politicians, journalists, and influencers: “To you on the right and left, to media figures and opinion leaders - be quiet. Come and listen to Irit and Adi [Chen’s family]. Don’t say a word, just listen. The values they instilled in their children are worth more than everything you represent.”
Concluding his remarks, Silam addressed those who avoid military service: “To all the draft dodgers, those sitting on the sidelines, those weighing ‘moral considerations,’ and to our haredi brothers who choose not to serve - history will judge you. Our people have endured so much. At best, you’ll be on the sideline. Chen Gross will be remembered as a brave warrior, the salt of the earth, who saved countless soldiers and civilians through his actions and the risks he took. We will never forget you. Team Spector - we run forward.”