Israeli Politics

This article appeared in the Jerusalem Post on August 9, 2007. Click here for the original. How were the soldiers who performed the pullout affected by the emotional turmoil? Gil stood on a steaming sidewalk in a row of soldiers awaiting orders, while kids and teenagers darted out of the Kfar Darom homes, randomly approaching his brigade, hoping to break their firm physical and emotional barriers and get them to refuse the orders. The lawns of the terra cotta-roofed homes were sprawled with settlers and their supporters, the atmosphere tense and emotionally loaded. “Many youngsters, mostly young girls, cursed us, yelled out us harshly: ‘How can you not be ashamed?’” recalls the 23-year-old kibbutznik from the Jordan Valley. His determination to carry out his orders was not deterred by their youthful, emotional interrogations, and today, two years after the disengagement, he remains unashamed. “I don’t think I’ll be ashamed to tell my kids about it. I don’t see myself as an individual person who participated. I think there is a historical process for the country, and I can say I was a part of it – a solder who was a part of it.” Gil has since completed his army service and works as an educational tour guide for young people. The disengagement – a move he favored – remains one of the most significant, difficult and thought-provoking chapters of his army service, but he doesn’t classify the operation as […]