■ VERY WELCOME guests at the President’s residence this month were former hostage Mia Leimberg and her dog Bella, which she had managed to hide and feed during the period of her captivity in Gaza. When Mia was abducted, a frantic search began for Bella, because no one imagined that Mia’s beloved four-legged friend would accompany her to hell on earth. Mia and her mother Gabriella were held captive by Hamas for 53 days. Despite the ordeal, Mia appeared to be in very high spirits only 20 days later.
Also at the President’s Residence was actress, singer, songwriter, dancer, philanthropist, and social media star Montana Tucker, who has more than three million followers, and who together with Mia and Michal Herzog sang Tomorrow to the applause of President Isaac Herzog,who joined in the chorus. Tucker hugged Mia, thanked her for singing with her, and immediately put out a “Bring Them Home Now” video.
THIS MONTH marked the 122nd anniversary of the transmission of the first transatlantic radio message. Nobel Prize laureate Guglielmo Marconi, who is credited with having been one of the leading pioneers in long-distance radio transmission, would be very pleased to know that technological progress has not deprived radio of faithful listeners. Radio has an extremely important role in the life of a nation and even on a global level.
A case in point this week was in a mid-day news broadcast on Reshet Bet. Carmella Menashe, the unofficial ombudswoman of the IDF, and Esti Perez Ben Ami, had decided to take up the cause of a lone soldier fighting with the IDF in Gaza who is in danger of being deported because he is not Jewish. Moreover, he doesn’t have a passport, so he has nowhere to go.
The fact that he risks his life for Israel 24/7 did not, at that stage, influence the bureaucrats in the Ministry for the Interior. But when the two broadcasters discussed the injustice, the station was inundated with messages from outraged Israeli citizens who offered to help the young man in any way possible. Among those who wanted to take up his case were former Supreme Court president Dorit Beinish and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. In fact, Hanegbi said that he would personally contact Interior Minister Moshe Arbel. This is not the first time that an Israeli radio or television station has taken up a humanitarian cause and succeeded in mustering sufficient support from influential quarters to change a cruel edict.
One can only imagine what it would do for Israel’s image abroad if Hanegbi fails to persuade Arbel. The general public can relate better to the fate of a single person than to a group of people. This soldier will get more support than he ever imagined possible.
Never-ending legacy
■ OLD SOLDIERS never die, they merely fade away. This old adage may ring true in some countries, but not in Israel, where the security situation is such that retired generals and former defense ministers are constantly being interviewed by local and foreign media outlets, asked to compare Swords of Iron with the wars in which they fought, and are interviewed about how they would deal with specific issues in the war against Hamas.
During the current conflict, which is to receive an official new name, people such as Ehud Barak, former prime minister, defense minister, and chief of staff; Moshe Ya’alon, former defense minister and chief of staff; Benny Gantz, former defense minister and chief of staff; Yair Golan, former deputy chief of staff; Avigdor Liberman, former defense minister; and Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate, military attache in Washington, and chief of staff of the Israel Air Force.
Strangely enough, very little if anything at all has been heard from Shaul Mofaz, who was both a defense minister and a chief of staff. Since leaving politics, Mofaz has kept a very low profile.
Can things go back to normal?
■ ALTHOUGH PARTS of Israel seem to be returning to some semblance of normal, with a series of film festivals next week and other cultural events such as theater plays and art exhibitions, there are some people who feel that this is not quite the right time for a celebration.
Although Singapore’s Independence Day is not until August, Ian Mak, Singapore’s first resident ambassador to Israel would have liked to have some kind of celebration at the embassy, to mark the historic occasion both in his own life and in the diplomatic relations between Singapore and Israel, but held off because he thought that it would be inappropriate to celebrate in war-time. Hopefully, he will be able to host a gala event in August or before.
Fallen soldiers
■ THE TWO most dreaded Hebrew words in radio and television announcements are “Mutar Lefarsem” – It is permitted to publish...” Those two words are a prelude to yet another notification that one or more Israeli soldiers have fallen in battle. Every single life is a world unto itself, but one of the biggest tragedies is the number of Israelis killed by friendly fire. What also hurts is the youth of the fallen – so many are aged between 19-22. Their families have put on brave faces, and are proud that their sons and brothers died as ‘heroes of Israel’. But the inner anguish is immeasurable.
As for the fallen soldiers in the 25 and older age group, many have left young widows and orphaned children. Such children can grow up to be successful adults, but it doesn’t compensate for not having a father for most of one’s life.
Zvi Vapni, a successful diplomat who is winding up his role as senior Foreign Policy Advisor to President Herzog, to take up his new appointment as Israel’s Ambassador to Spain, was three years old when his father Moshe, a school principal in civilian life and a liaison in the Armored Corps in the IDF Reserves, fell in battle near Refidim during the 1967 Six Days War. He was 31 years old.
The young Vapni and his eight-month-old sister were orphaned. Vapni remembers very little of his father. His sister remembers nothing. She was much too young to form any lasting impressions.
Government ministers
■ FOREIGN POLICY advisers to the president of the state are often loaned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but very few stay for the president’s full five-year term. David Saranga, who served as foreign policy adviser to President Reuven Rivlin, left to become ambassador to Romania.
Nadav Tamir, who was adviser to Shimon Peres, came on board after Peres had been in office for some time, but the two had previously worked together when Peres was foreign minister. Tamir stayed with Peres after Peres concluded his presidential term and went with him to the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation where he now serves as adviser for government and international affairs. He is concurrently the executive director of J Street, a position to which he was appointed three years ago.
The tragedy of loss
■ IDF WIDOWS and orphans, and those of members of all the security forces, are cared for and supported by the IDF Widows and Orphans Association which was established in 1991.
Unfortunately, there are already scores of orphaned children who lost one or both parents in war or to the Hamas murderers on October 7. Some orphaned children were born after their father fell in defense of Israel, and others will be born in the months ahead.
The Association works to support the care and welfare of widows and orphans whose husbands and fathers fell in service. It provides camps, outings, group Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations, care packages, vacations, birthday gifts, medical assistance, and more.
But no matter how well intentioned any social welfare agency may be, there are always people who fall between the cracks and don’t receive the benefits to which they are entitled.
This is most obvious in a nightly radio program hosted by social worker and journalist Gili Tamir. The call-in program called Ze Maigiya Leha (It’s due to you) is dedicated to helping listeners learn more about their entitlements, and how to go about getting them when they are not being received.
Prior to October 7, there were hardly any calls related to military service personnel. Now, there are quite a lot, because soldiers are not all getting what’s due to them. Tamir questions them about what they are receiving, and is horrified and angry when someone tells her that he isn’t getting anything.
After asking some more relevant questions, she tells the soldier about his best options and what he should do to get the financial or other assistance that he should be getting. When it’s a very difficult case, she tells the soldier that if he can’t make any headway by following her advice, he should get back to her, and she will take it from there.
That is happening quite a lot lately, and Tamir receives a surfeit of blessings in appreciation for the work she does. But she shouldn’t have to.
There should be a welfare task force in every municipality to make sure that wounded and self-employed soldiers are compensated for lost income during the war, and for further loss of income for the period they will have to spend in rehab.
Task forces of this kind can be operated by retired social workers and lawyers. It’s a way of making senior citizens feel useful, and those who have actually retired have plenty of time to devote to teaching rules and regulations and to help people who don’t know about them.
Mishan, the network of sheltered living facilities, long ago realized the importance of social integration for its residents, and has lectures, panel discussions and concerts to which the public is invited, and can mingle with the residents.
This morning, Friday, at 10.30 a.m. there will be a series of lectures at Mishan’s complex at 68 Brodetzky Street, Ramat Aviv, where retired generals Moshe Ya’alon and Amos Gilad will speak on issues pertaining to the war, and clinical psychologist Ran Puni will talk about the traumas of soldiers and civilians.
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