By Ethan Bennet – Alumnus of Netzer Year, NFTY in Israel and URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute and Freshman at Indiana University
Ethan, an alum of many of the URJ’s youth programs in Israel, reflects on what Gilad Shalit’s return to Israel means for him, having spent time living in Israel.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF Soldier Gilad Shalit and his father, Noam Shalit, after landing at Tel Nof Air Base. Photo by: IDF Spokesman's Office
I sit in class and receive a text telling me to check my usual source of Israeli news as soon as I can. I have 45 minutes left of class. Not one of them is without thoughts and images running through my head of another uprising in Israel, a post-Palestinian-bid-at-the-UN riot, or worse, the 3rd Intifada which has been on my mind since before the Arab spring. My mind is gone from the lecture topic.
As I exit class, I immediately get on the internet, arriving first at Ha’aretz, one of my daily stops for news from Israel and around the world. As if it were a dream, I do not see headlines shouting numbers of innocent citizens killed, or buses blown up, but rather, the moment for which I have been waiting way to long.
“Gilad Shalit to be Released”… “Shalit will be home in a few days”
And in the midst of excitement, skepticism. I think to myself, “Is this another internet hacker out to wreak havoc?” So it’s off to The Jerusalem Post, the second in my plethora of Israel news sources.
I see the reality. It hits me. Shivers are sent down my spine as I read the reality and tears come to my eyes. The day has come. I and so many others have been waiting way too long for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured in 2006, when he was only 19 years old, to be returned. He has been mistreated by Hamas for foar to long. At last we hear that the boy we saw disappear far too long ago will soon be returning as a man.
Then, amidst excitement and worries, we wait. All around the world people watched as Benjamin Netanyahu spoke, and parents Noam and Aviva along with grandfather Zvi, surfaced to be the front of Israeli news. I watched from the other side of the world. “This is big” I thought to myself, and while I physically continued with my life in the diaspora, my heart and mind boarded the El Al flight I wished to be aboard. I, as if I was in Israel, was 100% embraced by the last few days’ events. I turned to the news, photos, videos and stories every chance I got, and waited.
Finally announcements began to roll in. We were exposed to a list of prisoners to be released. As I flipped through pages of names and data on the prisoners whom Israel arrested in the face of terrorism, images of daily events, violence and personal stories (from both sides of the deal) rushed through my head. Everything I experienced during my year in Israel – the people I met, the emotions I felt as I talked with individuals affected from both sides of the conflict – could not amount to what intense emotion I was feeling on this momentous occasion.
I turned back to watching. Monday night, I sit awake into the early hours of the morning, tuning into Israeli news stations, radio and online news sites. Obsessively refreshing the play-by-play of the morning’s events graciously provided by Haaretz, there was nothing on my mind but Gilad Shalit. As 4 am approached, responsibility called, because unfortunately classes were still happening in the morning. As the sun arose, so did I, only to continue my fixation with the screen. I awoke to the best images one could see, our Gilad Shalit, free and joyous in the warm embrace of his parents.
Tears once again came to my eyes, as the reality set in. Gilad is home. Seen in the pictures were smiles grand enough to stretch around the world, and a new-found inspiration and hope in Eretz Israel. And if it couldn’t get better, the center of the deal himself, Gilad, declared that he will not leave his past 5 years behind, but rather hopes to play an active role in future peace talks, pushing an agreement between to two conflicted peoples forward. We as Jews – for whose lives Israel plays such a crucial part – were given a reason to have pride as we looked on.
There is too much to say on this issue. There is the personal side: spending my birthday in 2008 in Israel recognizing the two years to the day that Gilad had been captive. Or politically: what does this mean in regards to the peace process? One roadblock is soon to be taken away, so are we nearing some more momentous diplomacy? There is the ethical side: What is the role of groups such as the UN Human Rights Council, the Red Cross, Camera, or Human Rights Watch in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict? Why did it take so long for us to reach this point?
And we must not let pass the statements and images of glory, pride, and vows to continue kidnappings and violence toward Israel in the future. We must keep in mind what Prime Minister Netanyahu so peacefully stated: “The State of Israel is different from its enemies: Here, we do not celebrate the release of murderers. Here, we do not applaud those who took life. On the contrary, we believe in the sanctity of life. We sanctify life. This is the ancient tradition of the Jewish People”
It is this tradition for which we should be proud. Our religion, culture, and national identity as Jews is encompassed by this thought. And it is for ideals such as this that we are hated, and that we are victims of terrorism. But it is also for this reason that we must continue on, keep pushing forward, and not look back. With the release of Gilad Shalit, we should all recognize that no past policy will work; rather we must be innovative, creative, and supportive of Israel until the day that we achieve peace.
While there is much to think about in the future, I propose that for now, we celebrate. After all, this is a moment of pride, a time of happiness and support from every Israeli and every Jew. There will be another time for argument, debate, pro-Israel/Palestine rhetoric, and (unfortunately) fighting. Now is the time to be happy, for a boy has reunited with his mother and father after one-thousand, nine-hundred, and forty-one (1941) days of being stripped of basic human rights which everybody deserves, most importantly, the love of his family.
A time like this is one that will go in the books. In a few short years, I hope that people learning Israeli history all around the world will read of Balfour Declaration, Establishment of the State of Israel, Operation Entebbe, Operation Moses, Operation Solomon, the Oslo Accords, and the Release of Gilad Shalit as some of the most important and successful events in the history of the Jewish State.
May it be Gods will that Gilad Shalit and family will live out their lives full of health, happiness, and love and that the release of Gilad Shalit will be a moment of pride and the first in many events moving Israel towards peace in the Middle East. Amen.
