A Promise Unkept
In an blog post from April 5, 2024 titled “Never Again”, I discussed the concept of “never again” which in the Jewish communal context is the promise Israelis made to ourselves never to allow ourselves to be helpless victims of genocide again. The phrase “never again” is of course is closely tied to Jewish self defense , but the horrific events of October 7, 2023 are the most shocking example of how that promise to ourselves was at least for several hours broken, and the cost was immense, with 1200 murdered and 250 kidnapped into Gaza. In just a few hours Jews experienced the worst act of mass murder against them since the Holocaust.
Ironically the last site I guided on October 6th 2023 was the Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem. For many months after that day, and what has turned into the protracted war that has followed, I have been thinking of how I’m going to approach the concept of never again given that what happened on October 7th, 2023 didn’t happen in Europe, or some Muslim majority country, but right here on Israeli soil. I was at a loss, and this made an already depressing situation, even more depressing.
The combat at Yad Mordechai on October 7, revisited.
New information has been revealed about the battle for Yad Mordechai on October 7. As it turns out it was not just the local rapid response security squad that defended the kibbutz on that day, but also a team of special forces, commanded by none other than 36 year old Arnon Zamora which ultimately killed 33 terrorists attempting to infiltrate the kibbutz. Yad mordechai was saved, and the terrorist advance into Israeli territory was stopped and so just as the fighters of Yad Mordechai made history by slowing down the Egyptian advance in 1948 , 75 years later a new generation of fighters prevented the enemy’s advance and saved countless lives by defending the very same kibbutz.
Operation Arnon
Arnon Zamora would go on to lead his unit in operation “Seeds of Summer” on June 8, 2024. After months of intelligence gathering and planning Zamora and his team along with support from other units entered the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, in order to rescue four Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct 7. 2023. The operation was a success and all four of the hostages known to be held there were rescued and returned toIsrael. Tragically Arnon Zamora was critically wounded and later died at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv. He was the sole Israeli casualty of the rescue operation that would then be renamed after him. Zamora’s heroic death did not occur in a vacuum, but rather in the context of the 3000 year old Jewish value of the return of captives, when King David ordered the rescue of the bodies of Saul and Jonathan after they had been desecrated by the Philistines.
Operation Zamora was also reminiscent of Operation Yonatan which took place on July 4, 1976 when Israeli commandos rescued 102 hostages being being held by Arab and German terrorists after the Air France jetliner they were traveling on was hijacked and forced to land far away from Israel’s borders in Entebbe Uganda. Yonatan Netanyahu, the older brother of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the 30 year old commander and sole fatality amongst the Israeli commandos in what is also commonly referred to as “The Raid on Entebbe”.
A Nations unbroken spirit
October 7, 2023 was a cruel reminder of the genocidal ambitions of the enemies of the Jewish people, but today we have Israel and a strong and free people in their independent country are rising to meet the challenges of the modern era. Perspective is needed, and despite the obvious failures of October 7th, as a collective we are no longer helpless victims. We owe so much to our heroes Arnon ,Yoni, and all the others that fell in battle defending our homeland.
