David the Nachlaui

Hey everyone.

                The past month we have really been getting into the meat of advanced training. Most weeks we are learning how to fight in ever bigger groups (2 men, 4 men, the entire citah or company) and how to incorporate different weapons and terrain into the missions. Its quite interesting and challenging so I am really enjoying it. The next few weeks promise to be extremely difficult as one of them is "war week" where the idea is to provide us with a feel for what war is really like including lack of sleep, long hikes with all of our gear on us, etc. In any case, we are also closing in on recieving our green beret of the Nachal division. The tekes (ceremony) is on June 26th according to my commanders so I am very excited as that date is less than two months away.

              Enough about me for the moment. I would like to comment on the story that everyone is talking about and has been termed David the Nachlaui in Israel. A video was posted of a Nachal soldier on guard duty in Hebron. A Palestinian child goes behind the soldier's back in the video and in response the soldier cocks his gun at the kid. A few days later, the soldier was released from combat duty by the army. As a response, thousands of soldiers went on Facebook to support the soldier and his actions. As a Nachal soldier myself, I happen to know the details on this story.

             The truth of the matter is that the soldier was released from combat duty because he was aggressive towards his commanders (throwing rocks and assault) and didn't follow orders, not because of what he did in Hebron. But what really gets me upset about this whole story is why he was there in the first place. Soldiers are not policemen. We are trained to fight and view the world through the lens of where potential enemies and attacks can come from, however depressing that is. Therefore while I don't condone what he did towards a child, what did we expect? A soldier perceived a threat and acted accordingly. I am not going to get into politics surrounding Hebron but I will say this. Soldiers are not policemen and are not trained to be policemen....so what did we expect to happen?

           Other than that, life is good. The summer is beginning to arrive and I can't stop sweating. The heat is on a different level than in the States. It is oppressive and suffocates you and it will take time for me to adjust to the situation. Here is to hoping that I adjust sooner than later as the heat is only expected to get worse as we head into June, July and August.

          On a final note, tonight begins Yom HaZikaron, the day of memorial for the fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks in Israel. May their memory be a blessing.