After multiple tours of duty and hundreds of days of being deployed, it can be easy for Israeli soldiers and reservists to lose sight of the victory; however, on the day that the last living hostages were returned, all of our toil, wounds, and sacrifices have finally been vindicated.
We fought for the return of the hostages who Gaza terrorist organizations abducted on October 7, 2023, and to ensure that Hamas would never be able to perpetrate a massacre like the one in which they were taken again.
Yet, the goal always seemed so distant. Like an unending training ruck, the final destination never seemed to arrive, always appearing to be just one more mountain peak away.
For the individual soldier serving in Gaza, Lebanon, or any of the fronts in the war, the challenges can always overshadow the objective.
Two years evaporated into thin air
The big picture blurs after spending hours lying in mud and rain, or patrolling through shattered concrete under an oppressive sun. The future is only a distraction to a soldier focused on playing IED-Russian roulette by raiding a building complex in Gaza.
Soldiers and reservists fought in many ways, large and small. From spending hours in solitude, watching from guard posts in the dead of night, to entering the intense heat of a firefight, fending off an ambush by terrorists, heroism was established.
It was established not only in battle, but in all the moments in between that required quiet resolve. In the spirit of our resolve, and for our brothers in arms, we marched on, trudging through each hour of uncertainty and suffering.
To fight is to sacrifice, and no soldier or reservist returned as whole as when they entered the battlefield. Every reservist had to put their life on hold to serve – we had to abandon our education, neglect our businesses, and forgo career advancements.
Two years of our lives evaporated into thin air. We were overlooked for relationships, broken up with, and had our families fall apart under the strain of long periods away from home.
Our bodies and minds have been put under strain, left scarred as much by horrific memories and sights as by shrapnel and rubble. We were bombed, shot, and stabbed, losing sense and limb. Some even made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.
The worst type of sacrifice is one made in vain, and the foreboding sense that none of our objectives would be achieved cast a shadow that could block out the light of day. It lingered like tinnitus that overpowers one, drowning out the sounds of city streets. Every time I returned from a tour in Gaza, I couldn’t find any happiness.
I always knew that others were still fighting, that the job was left unfinished, and the hostages were still languishing in the depths of a Hamas hell.
It made visits to the graves of fallen heroes even more bitter, as if we had failed to build upon their contributions and see their will done. Yet perhaps now, we can visit our fallen comrades with our heads held high, and assure them that it was not in vain.
On Monday, the last live hostages returned from their 738-day captivity, in an agreement that was not just negotiated along diplomatic channels, but was won through military pressure.
With each plot of land held, with each terrorist felled, and with each tunnel destroyed, we slowly squeezed Hamas and other terrorist organizations to create the desperation to come to the table. The agreement and plan are not perfect, and if the enemy does not hold to it, we may be called upon again to serve, but at least one of our goals is finally in sight. Even peace is on the horizon.
Don’t expect anyone to thank you for your service. In all likelihood, after the war ends, you’ll essentially be forgotten – at least until they need you again.
Yet it is not accolades that drew us to don our uniforms, but a belief that we could win a better future for our families, friends, and nation. We brought the hostages home, and for now, that is a triumph enough.