As the mother of a combat soldier, I say if you will not stand by your soldiers until it is PROVEN that he did something wrong, step down. I’ve been through two wars with a son on the front lines and one of the only things that got me through was my faith in the IDF Chief of Staff – both times…two different men.
I was once at a conference and heard Gabi Ashkenazi speak and then a little while later, he was walking past me and without even realizing it, I walked up to him and there were tears in my eyes and he stood there and listened in my Hebrew, when I should have spoken English, I told him that my son had been in the Gaza war and I didn’t think I would survive the panic, the fear…and I listened to everything he said and I believed that he would bring my son home and I believed he would do what was right for Israel while doing all that he could to protect and stand by every soldier.
Ashkenazi listened till I finished and then he thanked me and told me that he was very touched by what I had to say. I told him I trusted him and he did what he was supposed to do, he brought my son home and I would never forget that.
The Chief of Staff is now Gadi Eizenkot. My older son is home, married and a father. Now it’s my youngest son in a combat unit. And I don’t want Eizenkot to continue serving. I need to know, mothers need to know, that you’ll guard our sons. I don’t trust you anymore, Chief of Staff Eizenkot.
Resign because you failed. Resign because you can’t send a 19-year-old boy into battle and then hang him to dry if he made a mistake…IF he made a mistake. You want perfectly mature, perfect soldiers – draft all the 30-40 year old men and leave the boys home with their mothers until they can mature on their own like they do in other countries.
Maybe that BOY made a mistake and MAYBE he didn’t. But you set him up so that these people who know NOTHING and have NOTHING to lose because it isn’t THEIR son…can spout at things like saying this boy should rot in jail.
You, Gadi Eizenkot, abandoned your position. You betrayed your soldiers. Maybe you didn’t train him right. Maybe you trained him right but you didn’t set the right rules of engagement. Maybe it’s too embarrassing to admit that the boy responded the way he WAS taught but from the outside it looks politically embarrassing.
Whatever the reason – you be the good commander and take responsibility. If there was a mess-up, it was under your command. Israel never throws the weakest soldier under the wheels of the tank…commanders step in and shoulder the responsibility.
When my son’s unit was attacked – a bunch of soldiers opened fire and neutralized the terrorist before he could back up and injure more soldiers and when the bullets stopped flying, ONE man stepped forward and claimed responsibility. That Arab was returned with bullet holes in all directions…but the story went out – ONE commanding officer fired. These are the soldiers of Israel.
What you did – it’s disgraceful and no, as mothers, we can’t trust you with our sons. So go. Leave. We’ll take care of this boy. We’ll work to make sure he gets justice. That was your job and you failed. Now go.
