IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi on Wednesday lit Hanukkah candles with injured IDF soldiers in the rehabilitation center at Sheba Hospital, along with Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, Director General of the hospital.
“Your choice to go to battle, is by itself huge heroism. The actions you took in which you were injured, are true heroism, which is why I tell you, not as a cliche, I see in you a model Israeli generation,” Halevi told the soldiers.
“Your heroism, and of those who unfortunately fell and we couldn’t bring them to this state of rehabilitation, are the light which repels the darkness, and in this room there is so much light.”
“I’d like you to know, I meet plenty of fighting forces. They look upon you, they want to know how you’re doing, they admire you, fighters are looking at you and at your story, amongst all of us, each one with their own story, brings much pride to us all, endless appreciation to you and what you’ve done, and much more than that, it drives us to continue and operate, with the strength and values we get from you,” Halevi said.
“With this, we know well that heroism isn’t taught in schools, it is also not a coincidence. Heroism is an expression of spirit, it’s an expression for the IDF spirit, for the spirit of the State of Israel, of the Jewish people, and of everything that each and every one of you brings from home and from yourselves as commanders and fighters.”
“The commanders and fighters that fell in battle are an expression of that spirit, and as we all know, yesterday we experienced a difficult incident, but it is one in which one team was in distress and other forces and high ranked commanders walked into the fire, into danger, commanders leading from the front, as we teach in the IDF. This is what we believe is the right way to fight, this is what we believe to be the right way to win,” the Chief of Staff continued.
“I tell you, with open heart, we will accompany you all the way, we will learn from times when we didn’t accompany you well enough, and be with you. Like you were there for the State of Israel, we will be there for you,” concluded Halevi.
Hebrew video: