FIDF Staff Mission. Day 3.
Woke up and went upstairs for breakfast. We have the option of going to the main lobby restaurant on the Vista Lounge. We opted for the lounge this morning. It was too early to eat, but I managed.
The first stop was at the IDF Spokesperson Unit where we heard from Carmen, who gave us a whole talk on her experience pre- and post-war. She spoke about how seventeen thousand Gazans used to hold work permits to work in Israel and would come in for fishing, farming, cargo, medical, coordination with Egypt, and it was all viewed as ‘quiet will be met with quiet.’ Obviously that was wrong. She outlined what happened on October 7th, goals of the war, operational challenges like the tunnel network, human shields, hostages, etc. She discussed combat on the ground, targets, the humanitarian efforts (land, air, sea), and field hospitals (for Gazans). It was a good visit.
Sarah trying out VR glasses
Next we went to the Tel Hashomer Base. We started out at the building where Israelis go at age 16 to start getting interviewed for the army. They have a physical, a psychological interview, and an IQ test to determine what they should do for their service.. For some reason the room with the IQ test has a sign on the door that says Disney World. It was funny but I don’t really know why it was there. It was just so crazy to see these 16 year old kids doing this while 16 year old kids here would never. We also happened to see a large crowd of parents dropping off their kids for day 1 of their army service (18 year olds).
From there we drove to the Bakuum, which is where new draftees come and basically get their service started. They get their uniforms, vaccines, fingerprints, photo ID, dog tags, andDNA tests (for identification if they are killed). After they get their uniforms there is a selfie camera because they aren’t allowed to have their phones. We took one, but it didn’t actually send to my phone, which is sad. We had an AMAZING lunch there. These poor kids are eating schnitzel sandwiches, but we had a SPREAD. We sat down to salatim and fish, and I thought well this is nice of them. Then they brought out flatbread and hamburgers, and I thought okay that’s very nice of them. THEN they brought out chicken and potatoes, and then pulled beef, and then rice, and THEN schnitzel and fries. It was nuts.
Next was the Akka Individual Wellbeing Department of the IDF. Basically FIDF gets requests from the army Chief of staff, FIDF then sends out money, it goes through Akka, and they then send it to the IDF. We had a whole presentation but everyone was falling asleep. Jetlag and a massive lunch is not a good combination. From there we drove to Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital, and where FIDF just signed a $25 million deal to partner with the hospital to treat veterans for PTSD. We heard from the doctor heading up the initiative, who is actually an orthopedic surgeon. Then we heard from three injured soldiers. They all lost legs in Gaza and told us their stories. Crazy stories, bombs, shootings. One guy told us he was in the Namal, which is a tank with no gun; it’s more of a transporter/safety vehicle, and you are not allowed to leave because if you get out they can see you and shoot you. But he had to go put a light on the top of the Namal so that the IDF would know it’s an IDF tank. He went out to put up the light, and as he’s on top he gets shot, and the next thing he knows he see’s his leg laying off to the side. Another solider told a story of being in a house and having a bomb go off. He lost his leg and his arm was hanging by a thread, but they saved it. He was also shot in his other leg. He said when he finally got to the medic, which wasn’t right away because there was still activity going on, he told the medic “there is something funny in my butt.” He was really cracking up as he told us this. So the medic turned him over and sure enough a bullet had ricocheted from the floor and into his butt. He thought it was hilarious. Perspective, I guess. I gave him some of the letters I had brought from HAFTR students.
From there we went to Bar Ilan University to meet with students from IMPACT, the educational scholarship FIDF gives out. We heard from two students and one of the VPs at the university who used to work at AIPAC. One IMPACT student is studying to be an engineer and has a baby on the way. The other is in med school but has been in the reserves since October 7th. We had dinner at Bar Ilan, which was dairy and mediocre. Who would’ve thought the army base food would be better than the university.
We finally got back to the hotel, exhausted. I was met by a gorgeous tower of treats in my room though, so well done Hilton. I went up to the Vista Lounge to do some work (but really to check out the dessert situation). My computer quickly died though so I went back to the room, took a bath, and went to bed!