For those of you who are feeding off international news agencies, there is no doubt that you have been fed a very biased and negative view of the IDF. The truth is, as a 23-year veteran and current active IDF reserves soldier in an elite IDF Paratroopers Unit, I can tell you firsthand about the dangers we put ourselves into in order to keep the civilian population of our enemies safe.

War pictures are never pretty and you will never come out of a war smiling, even if you win.
Even when we are forced to take a terrorist’s life, it is not a pretty sight and the fact that we are put into a situation where we must take a human life is, in and of itself, horrible and unforgiving.

 

 

This is not Golda Meir’s opinion, this is the opinion of every mother and father who send their sons and daughters off to defend and protect Israel from enemies that seek our destruction.

Israel never wanted war, Israel never instigated war and Israel would be happy never to have to fight another war again.

Unfortunately, Israel’s enemies have yet to give up on the hope of destroying our little Jewish country and we are proud to stand strong and defend ourselves.  The days when we were reliant on the mercy of outsiders are simply over. Our soldiers proudly wear the uniform of the Israel DEFENSE Forces and they stand tall as they protect the people of Israel while keeping the highest moral standards.

So what happened in Gaza?
WAR HAPPENED!

Israel responded to over 10,000 rockets that were shot at civilian cities in Israel since Israel’s complete withdrawal in 2005. Hamas rockets were not aiming at IDF bases or military personnel, they were aiming at Israel’s civilian population. There is not a single government in the world that would sit back and allow this to happen for the amount of time Israel did.

 

The IDF sent in ground troops even though the risks to our own soldiers was great. We did not and do not carpet-bomb; we send in our troops because our morality does not allow us to NOT take into account the lives of innocent people.

IDF sent warnings leaflets and phone calls to Gazan civilians letting them know that due to terrorist activity and missile fire  coming from their buildings, they are being asked to evacuate before we attack. What country in the world allows their own element of surprise to disappear because of their concern for the enemy’s civilian population?

Yes, innocent people unfortunately die in war, but Israel did everything in its power as to not harm the un-involved civilian population. IDF called off numerous airstrikes that could have taken out terrorists and missile launchers as well as treated scores of civilians injured in Gaza in Israeli hospitals.
Our concern for human life is exactly why our enemies use their own civilian population as human shields and their houses as missile launching bases – they know how much we care.

Who Am I Trying To Convince?

Those who serve in the IDF as well as parents and friends who know IDF soldiers do not need to be convinced about what our soldiers do to try and not harm innocent civilians. For those who are anti-Israel, the only outcome they would be satisfied with is what happened to the kidnapped IDF soldiers. So who am I trying to convince? No one!

It’s not only IDF soldiers who know the IDF is the most moral army in the world; listen to what Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, had to say about how the IDF forces behaved in last yea’rs Gaza war.

 

 

We at Standing Together understand the personal sacrifice IDF soldiers make when protecting Israel. That is why we made it our goal to support the men and women of the IDF with whatever they need, wherever they might be. If you, like us, want to show appreciation to Israel’s heroes, join us in any one of our current IDF campaigns.

 

Click on any of Standing Together Summer Campaigns to say
THANK YOU to soldiers who are Protecting Israel

 

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