![Benny Shabtai consoles Mary Dan Gor who lost a son in Gaza last year](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-01.jpg)
Benny Shabtai consoles Mary Dan Gor who lost a son in Gaza
last year |
![Jean and Eugen Gluck with Ricci Platt](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-02.jpg)
Jean and Eugen Gluck with Ricci Platt |
![A pretty foursome of the 11-member IDF orchestra](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-03.jpg)
A pretty foursome of the 11-member IDF orchestra |
![Lt. Col. Eyal Bar-Or and Rita Lerner](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-04.jpg)
Lt. Col. Eyal Bar-Or and Rita Lerner |
![Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of Presidents Conference, with Capt. Adi Gigi and Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-05.jpg)
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of Presidents
Conference, with Capt. Adi Gigi and Brig. Gen. Avi
Benayahu |
![Arthur Stark, FIDF national chairman, with Maj. Gen. (Res.) Yitzhak (Jerry) Gershon, IDF national director, and wife Shevy Gershon](../../images/power_benefits/pow_0906_02-06.jpg)
Arthur Stark, FIDF national chairman, with Maj. Gen.
(Res.) Yitzhak (Jerry) Gershon, IDF national director, and wife Shevy Gershon |
ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES
In Israel When You Turn 18
Say Goodbye To Childhood
By Tim Boxer
O have a mother rise before 1200
strangers, and expose raw nerves as she relates the death of a son
in battle, is a piercing highlight of the annual dinner of Friends
of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Mary Dan Gor is an Israeli mother of three boys.
Eran, her oldest, went into service like everyone else at 18.
"Ronnie could be a commander," she said, "but he
preferred to be on the front line with his comrades in Givati, the
fighters of the purple beret."
She was not surprised by his choice as she remembers
him as an absolutely responsible person, "the perfect child every
mother prays for."
He’d come home for Shabbat, tired and dusty, and
brag that his "imah [mother] makes the best schnitzel in the world."
In a raid in March 2008 to stop Qassam rockets in
Gaza, 1st Sgt. Eran got trapped in an ambush and cut down
instantly. He was only 20 and never got a chance to taste another of
his mom’s schnitzels.
Benny Shabtai, president of Raymond Weil and
dinner chairman, observed that in Israel, when the children turn 18,
they say goodbye to their childhood.
Now it’s time for Gor’s middle child
Nadav to
also join the army.
"Our lives revolve around funerals, cemeteries and
memorials," Gor sighed with a broken heart.
Shabtai tried to console the grieving mother: "Kids
like Eran belong on Facebook, not memorial blogs."
Major
Oren Balitzblau of IDF Intelligence was
also at the dinner, which raised $15 million for the welfare of
Israeli soldiers.
He told how he tried to arrest a terrorist suspect
four years ago at a border crossing in Gaza. The man blew himself up
and severely injured Balitzblau, destroying most of his eyesight.
"The best way to win over terror," he said, "is to
continue with your life. I continue to train our intelligence
officers even if I have to do it in the dark."
Through a satellite link from a military base at
Yahalom, three lieutenants discussed their experiences in last
year’s Gaza war. Naama said she chose the most challenging
thing, flight school. Today she is only one of two female combat
pilots of the F-16. "My mother thought it was a good place to find a
boy friend — which I did."
Avner, of the engineers special forces,
described using robots to locate bombs and find concealed terrorists
during the Gaza campaign.
Erez, the platoon commander in a paratrooper
battalion, told of walking into Gaza on their toes, like ballet
dancers. They found mannequins dressed like terrorists in booby
trapped buildings, and hidden bombs in Coke bottles on the ground.
"That’s an amazing story," said radio host
Monica
Crowley, who served as emcee at the dinner.
"That’s not an amazing story; that’s a good story,"
Erez countered. "An amazing story is me and my girlfriend in Rome
last month."