h terrorists on the outskirts of the kibbutz
In the first house we entered, the front squad killed two terrorists in the living room at point blank range. We entered the inner room, and encountered a horrible sight. An elderly man and woman are lying on the floor, soaking in their blood, shot from head to toe. A huge shock. We looked away and continued to the next house. We were in the middle of a war. Terrorists roamed the houses. We wanted to save the survivors.
In the third house we rescued an old woman from hell. ‘I knew you would come’ she tells us. ‘Thank you’. (Although she waited in hell for about 12 hours.). Tears choked my throat. From there we stood behind cover to protect the house where we were, through the window.
Then my “iron” (permanent army) partner, a doctor from Tel Aviv suddenly starts talking: “It’s Saturday Night. For seven months, every Saturday night, I did not miss an (anti-Bibi) demonstration at Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv. I also signed every petition that came out. Now, he says, I can no longer remember what we demonstrated about.
What’s clear to me is: I’m not going back there (and we are only a few hours into the war..). And then he continues to speak, and I can barely open my eyes and listen. In the first house we entered, he says, a premise that I grew up with suddenly collapsed for me; I have always thought that there is no good and bad in the world, as children tend to think, but really everything is relative. There is no bad person but a person who it’s bad for him. From this I also understood that the Palestinians, they are not bad, it’s just bad for them. And if their interests are met, they will be good.
But when I saw the slaughtered elderly couple, I suddenly realized that there is absolute evil in the world. Pure evil. And in the process of saving the Kfar Azza survivors, I realized that there is pure goodness.
While the kibbutz is in hell, firing from all directions, more and more vehicles enter with screeching brakes, soldiers who weren’t even called and Israeli civilian volunteers, charging the terrorists and risking their lives to save our brothers and sisters. Just to save people they don’t even know. There is absolute good in the world… And after we leave Kfar Azza, this doctor partner tells me: My wife, who is also a doctor, and I made an agreement. “Let’s not have children until I’m a senior doctor or a professor, and until she finishes her internship”. We decided there was no choice but to wait.
But as soon as I left Kfar Azza, everything turned upside down for me. I sent her a message: My love, I really want children. Now. I hope you understand and feel like I do. Suddenly my career plans paled…