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Israeli Soldier´s LIFE & THOUGHTS

Rock the Casbah

The latest video hit on the web is undoubtedly this video, showing IDF soldiers kicking a funny dance during a patrol in Hebron. This video scored millions of views (different version on YouTube and on other websites) and was aired and analyzed on various international TV networks. Some thought it to be funny, others said it´s totally inappropriate and disrespectful. Now, I´ve been to Hebron, and my memories of this place are pretty harsh - shouting, shooting, cursing and other elements of disorder during a surgical operation that went wrong (but ended well, I must say). That´s why in my opinion, the video of the dancing soldiers in Hebron reflects the Israeli desire to normal life, the desire for having fun. I mean, these guys are in a patrol in a dangerous area, stressed, tensed and nervous - yet deciding to pull out a joyful dance routine, [mehr]

Recommended IDF films from all times

Over the last few weeks I have been asked by some of my readers to recommend some descent IDF-related films and books. I thought that I might share my recommendations with everyone. All of the links below are from the well-trusted Israel-Catalog website (which gains me a minor revenue from each buy referring from my blog), but you probably can buy most of them in other online stores as well. So here we go (click on the pictures to open): “Beufort” (2007) – An instant Israeli Classic based on a best-seller book. The true story of the last unit of soldiers on the legendary Beaufort outpost, fighting with Hizbollah insurgents while preparing for evacuation. Very emotional and authentic acting and setting which [mehr]

The beautiful female IDF soldier girl - part 2/2

The desicion to go on with the Officers Course was easy to make, but very hard to deal with. I´m not talking about the obvious physical and mental challanges, oh no. Knowing that for the upcoming year I´m not going to see Keren on a regular basis as I was used to was the thing that bothered me most Keren knew that there was no point in trying to persuade me to cancel my participation in the course, so she only asked me to "talk about our relationship in the upcoming year". "What is there to talk about? Nothing is going to change! You´ll see!" I answered right away. "I´ll call you every night and I´ll spend my breaks with you and with you only!". I was so naive back then. So naive. You see, in Officers Course, much like in every other IDF course, you get to use your cellphone only in the single hour before bedtime. In this single hour, [mehr]

The beautiful female IDF soldier girl - part 1/2

For guys like me, it´s difficult enough to find a girlfriend without being a soldier. You see, my friends would tell you that "Yoav is loud and full of jokes", and my soldiers (the ones who I command) would say that "Yoav is so charismatic". But when I see a pretty girl, my face is turning red and I become completely shy, reticent and... Well... Basically dumb. The best I can do is to smile like a moron and say "Hi" with a shaking voice. Nothing was different when I first met Keren, a beautiful IDF female soldier girl who served as a secretary of the senior commander of my unit. I was entering the HQ for some paperwork, walked the corridor and passed 3 rooms. When I walked passed the 4th room, I saw her for the first time. Keren was (and still is!) a 1.67m (5´5") beautiful Yemenite girl, with brown skin and long and smooth black hair. That was about a [mehr]

Balancing the books

Incomes: Officer´s salary - 783 NIS (210 USD). Routine expenses: Cell phone bill – an average of 430 NIS (116 USD) a month. You probably assume that this is because of my girlfriend, and logic is definitely on your side, but unfortunately for me, I don´t have one. The joke in the IDF says that when you become a commander, you get a symbolic raise of 2 more NIS to your salary and 200 NIS to your cell phone bill. Food – an average of 300 NIS a month (81 USD). The last thing you want after a 12-hour patrol is to eat the greasy three days old meatloaf they serve in the base. Crowd control equipment – an Average of 50 NIS (13 USD) a month. The army provides us with all sort of non-lethal equipment, but I find that candies do much better work on kids who´s parents send them to throw rocks at us. Too bad I have to [mehr]

Few words about volunteering to the IDF

Hi! I was preoccupied during the last week and couldn´t write a lot, sorry for that... This time, I´ve decided to post a question I got on Facebook, which I thought (and still think) to be a beautiful one. Please feel free to share your experiences and comments with me. Also, please take some time to review the items of the blog-shop (button on the right) or considering supporting the blog directly. Yours, Yoav B Yoav, J.R April 25 at 21:51pm My name is J.R. (-full name deleted) and I am a Jew. I am American and I live in (-deleted-), about two hours outside of New York City. Let me explain to you why I am writing. In the winter of 2006 like many of my American classmates I had the opportunity to visit Israel on Birthright. The trip was amazing. The sites, people, food and of course [mehr]

Technology of the Future

This headline article on Yahoo! caught my attention. It describes the "Trophy" active protection system for tanks. I have some friends in the armored corps, and they told me that up until recently the Trophy system was a huge secret. According to the article (and some of my friends), this system is supposed to give a quantum leap in terms of defending and protecting the Israeli Merkava tanks from hostile anti-tank weapons. Only when you consider the IDF´s Armored Corps casualties during the Second Lebanon War, can you appreciate the system´s true [mehr]

Paying the price for other´s freedom

Passover, as you all know, is the Jewish holiday of freedom. Originally, Passover was meant to celebrate our people´s Exodus from Egypt. But over the last 60 years, freedom and Passover have taken on an additional meaning: - Israeli freedom. Our freedom to live the way we want - as a nation and as individuals. Our independence as a [mehr]