Page 47 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

him. To Menachem, it seemed like eter- The man began to retreat, then ran
nity; he felt as if he were running and toward the other soldiers, trying to
running, but not getting there. distract Gal. Suddenly, another Arab
jumped Gal with a knife from behind
When he finally reached the building,
he heard his name. “Menachem! Over and the first guy came back to grab Gal’s
here!” hand.
Gal managed to shake both men off, but
Menachem found the wounded soldier,
assessed the situation, and realized his not before the knife had cut his throat.
hands were already doing what they Gal knew he had to stop them before
should. He helped evacuate the soldier they got lost in the crowd.
and was soon running back to care for He shot four bullets in their direction,
the others.
managing to hit them both.
Dripping with blood, he staggered to the
jeep, collapsing on the floor as another
soldier rushed to stop the blood.
Thanks to Gal’s ability to stay calm Suddenly, the Egyptians fired shots
and act coolly, the two terrorists were to prevent the Israeli soldiers from
Keeping Calm arrested and the interrogators exposed a approaching the fence.
March 8th, 2012. slew of previously unknown terror plots. The Israelis retorted with warning shots,
The Kfir Brigade’s Lavi Battalion In saving his own life, Gal had saved the but to no avail.
received an order to make an arrest in lives of many others. “Maybe,” he says, Or ordered one of his soldiers to launch
the hostile Arab village of Yata in the “But I don’t think I did anything out of a flare into the sky so the team could
South Hebron Hills. the ordinary.”
see the Egyptians. Instead of scaring the
Usually, when there’s an arrest, it takes Egyptians away though, the enemy could
place at night, and the team receives now see the Israelis and began to shoot
aerial photos or information the day directly at them.
before, so they can plan ahead. This time
though, it needed to be immediate and A boulder exploded near Or’s head,
during the day. stunning him momentarily. But he knew
Protecting the Border he had to stop them before they infil-
While the operational team arrested trated Israel.
the suspect inside the building, the March 3rd, 2020.
14-strong assisting team, including sol- Sergeant Or Ben-Naim was on a stan- Crawling back to his jeep, Or contacted
dier Gal Weingarden, stood guard out- dard night patrol on the Israeli-Egyp- observation control, who focused their
side, keeping a safe distance between the tian border. Yet unlike his normal shifts, cameras on the area. Serving as Or’s
building and a mob of about 500 angry today he had orders to focus on a spe- eyes, they told him exactly where the
Palestinians who had rapidly gathered cific area. The lookouts had picked up a intruders were, so he and his team could
outside, flinging rocks, Molotov cock- suspicious vehicle on the Egyptian side. fire with accuracy. Thanks to Or’s deter-
tails, iron bars and anything that came Or spotted the vehicle. It was heading mination and bravery, and with the sup-
to hand at the IDF soldiers. port of his team and the control room,
to the border fence.
Suddenly, one of the villagers began He and his soldiers lay in position behind they were able to kill three Egyptians
walking towards Gal. an embankment as they saw a number of and scare away the rest of them.
Gal ordered him to stop and go back. armed men leaving the vehicle carrying If they hadn’t, the consequences could
This was a closed military zone. bags and ladders to cross the fence. have been fatal. n

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