Despite the fact that Israel’s population is now verging on 10 million, there’s a widespread assumption that everyone knows someone in the army or knows of them or their immediate families. It’s something that not much thought is given to in peacetime because it happens to be so true, that it’s simply a given. But in wartime, it’s something that occupies one’s thoughts not only in Israel but also abroad.
By Wednesday morning, 169 soldiers, mostly young men and women aged between 18 to 20 had lost their lives. Dreams and ambitions were shattered; families were cloaked in grief. Photographs of the fallen soldiers were published across whole pages in the Hebrew press. Death and condolence notices, over and over again contained the words “who was murdered” or “who fell in defense of…”
The worst was when familiar names jumped out of the texts in the newspaper notices or on social media. Avi Golan, a former marketing and advertising manager of The Jerusalem Post, lost his grandson Yonatan Golan who fell while helping to defend Kibbutz Be’eri, where Hamas carried out a massacre. Rabbi Harris Guedalia lost his grandson Malachi Guedalia, who was buried on Wednesday in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Hadassah Ne’eman lost her son Menachem, whose late father, former justice minister Yaakov Ne’eman, was one of the partners in the prestigious law firm Herzog Fox & Ne’eman. Former press photographer Yitzhak Elharar, whose photos, during a period of some 30 years were published in most of Israel’s daily newspapers, including The Jerusalem Post, lost his nephew who was murdered in the south; and social entrepreneur Elie Ledeman lost his son-in-law Amir Sakuri who fell in battle on the first day of the war. World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel lost his brother-in-law Assaf Shlezinger, who was murdered while treating the wounded.
People from all strata of society are among the bereaved. No one is immune. It is almost with dread that calls are made to friends and acquaintances who have close relatives who are currently serving in any branch of the security establishment or who live in a kibbutz, moshav, city, or town in the southern or northern regions of the country.
Actually, it doesn’t matter where they live. In the published lists of fallen soldiers, there are those who were raised in the big cities and those who were born and grew up in obscure villages that hardly anyone has heard of. But they fought together for a common cause out of a common love for Israel – and they paid the supreme sacrifice.
Miriam Peretz prays for her son
■ NO BEREAVED mother of fallen soldiers is better known in Israel than Israel Prize laureate and passionate orator Miriam Peretz who lost two sons - Uriel who was killed in Lebanon in 1998, and Eliraz who was killed in Gaza in 2010. She currently has another son in the army. When he exchanged his prayer shawl and white shirt for army fatigues, she made no effort to stop him. She just embraced him, told him to take care of himself and his comrades, and with a prayer in her heart, watched him leave. Peretz has been busy visiting bereaved families to offer words of comfort, and to convince them by her own example that life goes on and can be meaningful.
Royal and presidential phone calls
■ ONLY A tragedy of the proportions currently experienced by Israel could bring about a telephone conversation between Britain’s King Charles III and President Isaac Herzog, and US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the same day. The king called to offer his condolences.
Biden, who has said many times that you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist, this week put his money where his mouth is, and firmly stood in solidarity with Israel, declaring twice in quick succession in the speech that he made at the White House on Tuesday: “We stand with Israel.” Biden is not the first US President to be publicly supportive of Israel and the Jewish People, but he is the first to be so adamant and eloquent about it.
Small wonder that parts of the speech were rebroadcast over and over again on Israel’s electronic media outlets. Tuesday is considered to be a lucky day in Jewish tradition, because it was on the third day of creation, that God who said only once on each day that He had seen that it was good, said so twice on the third day.
On Tuesday, Biden said twice in firm succession: “We stand with Israel.” Of course, this did not go over well with Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Ilhan Omar, and Squad members vying in the 2024 elections. But many Americans who were shocked by images of the carnage wrought by Hamas will go along with Biden.
Herzog has been very busy talking to world leaders, but also doing the job that should have been done by government ministers. Many survivors of Hamas brutality who had been evacuated from the south, complained that no officials had visited them or spoken to them.
Relatives of wounded or stranded people in the south, complained that they had called every possible official body to ask for help for their loved ones – and none was forthcoming. But Herzog made it his business to visit the wounded in hospitals, and evacuees in hotels to which they had been taken in different parts of the country. He also met with the families of people who had been taken hostage by Hamas, and went to Sderot and Ashkelon to demonstrate his solidarity with the residents, and his admiration for their resilience. He went to other places as well, and also spent considerable time talking to world leaders about the worst catastrophe that had befallen the Jewish People since the Holocaust.
How are diplomats in Israel weathering the war?
■ WHILE THE media has paid attention to foreign workers and other foreign nationals who are either missing, or who have been abducted or killed, very little mention has been made of people working in the numerous diplomatic missions in Israel.
For some, this is not their first war. They have been posted to other conflict zones at various stages of their careers. Others have never experienced war before, and for them it’s very frightening. To help them cope, the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel initiated direct contact lines between heads of diplomatic missions and relevant people in the Tel Aviv and Herzliya municipalities.
Most embassies are located in Tel Aviv and most diplomats live in Herzliya Pituach. Several ambassadors have written warm letters of appreciation to ACI President Yitzhak Eldan, who is himself a retired ambassador. The letters have included condolence messages over the heavy losses that Israel has suffered, and wishes for better times ahead. Among the ambassadors who wrote to Eldan are Turkish ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, Kazakhstan ambassador Burshakov Satybaldy, El Salvador ambassador Milton Umana, South Sudan ambassador Wol Mayar Ariec, Nepalese ambassador Kanta Rizal, Lithuanian ambassador Audrius Bruzga and Zambian ambassador Martin Mwanambale. The ambassadors are also dealing with the needs of citizens of their own countries who happen to be in Israel as foreign workers, students or tourists.
KAN changes its call sign
■ KAN 11 has changed its call sign which now translates as “we are here.” Kan is one of the Hebrew words for here and in this case, it’s not a bombastic announcement, but spoken in soft, gentle tones. KAN has become a parapsychological outlet for people from the south and for bereaved parents, siblings and spouses, who need to tell their stories.
KAN is also helping them to reach officials who may be able to assist them. Some of the more authoritarian broadcasters should not have been assigned to this project. The two most empathetic are Ran Binyamini and Yigal Guetta, who give such people maximum leeway and speak to them with the utmost sensitivity. Guetta, is particularly aware of emotional trauma, because his brother and sister-in-law were murdered by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Kiryat Shmone massacre of 1974.
Canceling events due to war
■ THE WAR situation has prompted the postponement or cancellation of many events. The institution with the biggest headache in this regard was the National Library of Israel whose Director of International Relations Naomi Schacter had to inform those of the 800 invited guests who live abroad that the opening which had already been rescheduled several times, was being postponed yet again. The official opening was due to take place next week with several side events honoring specific donors.
The library is currently short staffed as many of its members have been mobilized for military service.
Rachel Neiman, who is head of International Media Relations, says that even though the library will not be officially opened on October 17, the reading rooms and visitors’ center will be open to the public as soon as possible. Meanwhile, in light of school closures, NLI’s Center for Humanities Education launched a series of online writing courses, and created workshops for Israeli schoolchildren. The first activity was over-subscribed almost immediately, with 100 registrants. The program was then expanded to 10 sessions, including one for teachers about the power of writing during times of crisis.
NLI’s Center for Humanities Education has also provided a page of online resources available for students and teachers. merkazruach.nli.org.il/together
NLI’s Global Education Center is preparing materials in English for students and teachers abroad. These worksheets deal with topics like community solidarity, and will be available online at education-en.nli.org.il/
Aside from being emergency outlets, these programs are designed to introduce children to the library at the earliest possible age so that they will realize the value of reading and writing.
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