"YUVAL NERIA Lt. Colonel (Reserve)" "19...20 years old... 19...19..." "25...19... 20, over there..." "20 years old...19... 18... 21... 19." "There're all..." "All young." "On active army service?" "Yes." "18... 20...25..." "At 25, he was an officer." "29...a major." "20...19..." "MEIR WIESEL Major (Reserve)" "AVIGDOR KAHALANI Brig. General (Reserve)" "YANUSH BEN-GAL Maj. General (Reserve)" "ZVIKA GREENGOLD Lt. Colonel (Reserve)" "AVI YAFEE Sergeant (Reserve)" "I commanded 4 bunkers." "To the north was Chizaion, then Purkan, farther south, Matzmed and Lakekan." "Four fortifications." "Personally," "I lived, so to speak, in Purkan because it was the biggest." "At first," "I felt we were at war, bot I didn't konow" "it ran north and south, and all along the canal, and all the fortifications." "I only understood that later, from the radio." "You see, it was Yom Kippur and there's no radio." "We didn't know they were broadcasting." "When I learned it was an all-out war..." "You realized it was total war?" "Yes, and we heard they were trying to send tanks..." "Tank to rescues you?" "From the first day." "They couldn't reach us." "We heard on the radio they'd got within a mile or two of us but couldn;t get through." "The Egyptians were 35 to 45 yards from us." "I told the troops in the bunker to come out and we started firing." "The Egyptians tied another assault, but they failed." "That was the first day, around 4 or 5 PM." "Their 160-mm guns shelled us all night." "It was my first time under a barrage like that." "It was terrible." "I knew from the radio that all the other bunkers had fallen to the Egyptians." "We were the last." "YOSSI BEN-HANAN Maj. General" "YANUSH BEN-GAL Maj. General (Reserve)" "ISRAEL TAL Maj. General" "ADAM BEN-TOLILA" "ILAN LEIBOVICH" "AVIGDOR KAHALANI Brig. General (Reserve)" "Mom, I'm burning." "YOSSI BEN-HANAN Maj. General" "That was Sunday." "Arik Sharon phoned me." "He said he'd done all he could to get us out." "I knew he had." "We know him, we know what kind of officer he is." "He doesn't leave soldiers stranded." "Sharon doesn't desert his men." "I dont share his political ideas, but as a general, no problem." "We didn't talk in code to Sharon:" "all the secrets of the other fortifications were known to the Egyptians." "They knew the codes?" "Sure." "The only code they didn't know was Yiddish." "But I wasn't sure Sharon spoke Yiddish." "In any case..." "I do speak Yiddish." "That's why I made the decision, and the proof is that Sharon's replies were uncoded," "That told me I could speak freely." "ARIEL SHARON ("ARIK") Maj. General" "Maozim:" "Bunkers" "On Monday, when I saw Sharon couldn't save us," "I began working outan esc ape plan:" "where the Egyptians were, which road, if we move out at night." "It was Yom Kippur, the middle of the month, so the moon would be full." "I didn't know how I'd be received, if I'd be jailed or given a medal." "That decision..." "to leave ar not to leave... was tough." "Because we in Tsahal, in our army, don't surrender things, no fortifications, nothing." "We don't move backward, only forward," "We don't retreat." "But a decision had to be made." "So I took full... akhariut... full responsibility." "After the war, we'd see." "If we left, and survived," "I had full responsibility." "Because I was sure" "I saw exactly what our situation was." "That afternoon I asked the men's opinion:" "to stay, or to go?" "We would do it like a kibbutz assembly." "We'd talk and talk, discuss it, but the decision was mine." "No voting." "It was democratic, but I'd decide." "There'd be no vote." "Almost all opted for pulling out." "A few said we hadn't a chance of leaving." "So I decided." "Shuki said, look..." "If we don't get authorization from the rear, from Arik Sharon, or from brigade, to leave..." "I said, they'll give it to us because they have to..." "To stay here is... lehitabed... suicide." "I talked to Sharon." "He asked how I'd get out." "I said I couldn't tell him my plan on the radio." "He said, "Remember the full moon."" "Around 1 AM I said we'd move out in half an hour." "I wanted the bombardment, as I said, before and after we crossed the road along the canal to cover the noise we made." "But one of us was pious." "He said, "I want you to pray."" "I said, "You say it, I'll repeat after you." ""If that helps you, it's OK with me."" "You're not religious?" "Me?" "No." "But why'd he ask me to do that?" "I'd once said to him..." "Eikh amarti lo?" "What's that in Hebrew?" "...Baerev, tsaríkh oto." "tonight we'd need Him." "Blessed is He today..." "with His help.." "Something like that in Hebrew, using God's name," "It was his big chance." "He said, "I want you to pray."" "So I repeated the 2 Or 3 things he said." "Now when he runs into me, 10 years later..." "He once told me," ""It's because of the pray we escaped."" "The prayer." "The prayer." "Dawn, after a night of lyíng in ambush.," "Lt. General EHUD BARAK:" "Maj. General ISRAEL TAL:" "Maj. General AVIHU BIN-NUN Air Force Commander-in-chief:" "Maj. General MATAN VILNAI Chief of the Southern Command" "YUVAL NERIA:" "DAVID GROSSMAN Writer" "The first jump" "RELIK S., a pilot in the raid on Bagdad nuclear plant" "Adi GAN" ""Attack at any cost!"" "Lt. General EHUD BARAK, Commander in chief of TSAHAL" "A bullet hit me in the throat." "In fact, my whole head blew up, so I didn't feel the second slug that hit my leg." "MUKI BETZER" "Blood gushed from my throat, soaking my clothes." "I was sure I was going to die." "This, clearly, was it." "Oddly, it was a pleasant, relaxed feeling." "I thought of my wife and son," "I was sure it was all over for me." "Probably in despair, I took away my hand that was clutching my throat wound." "I realized I'd started to breathe through my throat." "I turned and started walking toward Matan's unit, walking unaided." "I was no help in my position." "No, I didn't pass out." "I was weak, covered with blood," "I knew my face was smashed, but I walked a long time alone, out in the open," "hearing bullets whistle around me." "I thought I was going to be hit again." "There was no fear," "Or worry, just a feeling that's hard to describe." "Only someone who's been through it can understand:" "I felt cut off from life." "I'm one of a group of people who seldom come out in the open." "I've always served in elite units." "It's a different army, another world." "rank doesn't count for much, they're very close-knit units," "There's a lot of cunning in these wars." "Combat goes on during the wars and especially between wars." "The Tsahal elite forces are among the best." "The character of Israeli Jews, who spend their lives improvising," "gives us a big advantage over other units." "The blend Of human potential, high technology," "our cunning and, of course, experience, the vast experience no other army in the world has," "that the elite Tsahal units have, operates permanently." "Because the war here is permanent." "We've been fighting every day for 40 years." "All these factors combined make the Israeli army as a whole, especially its elite units, what it is today." "Ehud Barak was disguised as my girl." "He had long, black hair... a hefty bosom." "He wore make-up." "His fine-featured face was easy to make up." "The men disguised as women were small, with fine features, they were the easiest to make up." "Couldn't Muki pass as a woman?" "No, I'm six feet one or two..." "It's not easy... with my mug." "We received precise, detailed data for this operation:" "where they lived in Beirut, their daily routine, what guards and weapons they had." "Their chief was Yasser Arafat's No. 2 man, the one who had made the detailed plan for killing the 11 Israeli athletes in Munich, Germany." "The Navy landed us 12 miles south of Beirut with great accuracy." "3 limousines were waiting." "We joined the traffic for Beirut." "No one noticed us." "Beirut was peaceful." "It was before the civil war." "People strolled calmly." "We parked the cars." "We knew exactly, by the maps and photos, where to leave them." "We split up and walked." "Each group made for its target." "I had my arm around Ehuï's shoulder." "His group and mine headed for the same building." "He and his men stayed downstairs to coordinate things andc over us." "Who fired?" "The man who had to fire." "The Lebanese government had to resign after this operation" "because we had slipped past the Lebanese army into Beirut without being spotted." "They're the 2 wanted men who slew the soldier near Jenin." "Israeli troopers killed them recently." "That poster eulogizes them." "They're 2 killers slam by Israeli soldiers." "Their names are there:" "Hassan and Akmed Kamil." "This street is called Beni Meister Alley." "Meister was a reserve paratrooper." "He died here." "Someone threw a brick." "It hit his head and killed him." "When?" "A year ago." "You know what happened here, don't you?" "Why are you facing the wrong way?" "If they come back, you'll see them too late." "Do I have to put you in jail?" "They've already tried to attack you." "Face the street." "Brig. General SCHMUEL ZUCKER Commander of the Gaza Strip He said: "I'm going to see the man I worked for 5 years ago and tell him him I'll work for him."" ""I'm out of work:" "I threw stones." ""I was in jail..."" "They all threw stones?" "No, but most of those who can't enter Israel, are people with problems." "What if the employer says "I don't need you"?" "They won't get work." "They'll wander in Tel Aviv for 6 days?" "That's the problem." "What can I do?" "They'll konock on doors, asking..." "No" "They know people." "...for work?" "Most of them know people." "They know where to go for work." "But you may find them at the car-stop there." "Brig. Gen. ARIEL SHIFMAN Chief of Gaza Civil Admin." "That's a risk I take." "If not, they'll stay here without work." "What's a car-stop?" "A place where workmen gather." "Hiring points for Palestinians." "How old is he?" "36" "How many children?" "He says 10." "He speaks English." "Why so many children...?" "What can I do?" "I don't make them, He does." "He says God makes them." "I don't make them." "I cast." "Right?" "God does it." "He says, I just cast..." "So he casts." "He's 36, he can make 20 more kids." "She won't do it with a condom." "She won't do it." "He says he has no right to use such things as condoms." "Why not?" "Religion." "It's his religion." "Let him tell me." "He sais it, in Hebrew." "It's agianst my religion." "He has no right to turn off the tap." "It's my religion." "He can still make 20 more." "He's 36." "He helps God." "He says he could have 20 more." "How many wives have you?" "Right now?" "One" "Will you take another?" "No." "She's all I need." "One's enough?" "With my problems." "Has he workes in Israel?" "Yes." "When?" "From 1973 to 1980." "What about the past 10 years?" "I started a clothing business, lost all I had." "I closed it at once." "Then I worked in a plant in Ashdod." "As a cleaner." "Because of the Intifada, I guarreled with my boss." "Why?" "He wanted me to be at work every day." "Sometimes I couldn't" "Problems come up." "He couldn't always go to work, with the strikes and all." "00:16:54,280 -- 00:16:56,681 I quit three years later." "Yes." "Paid monthly?" "Yes, I need steady work." "You got severance pay?" "Yes." "How much?" "A month per year." "What did you earn per month?" "Around 3,000 shekels." "He didn't want to pay." "Because you skipped work?" "Yes." "He speaks good Hebrew." "Everyone here does." "He worked 24 years in Israel." "Workers talk Hebrew." "He has a problem." "Everyone does." "What?" "The stones?" "And other problems." "First you listen to him." "Then we'll check the computer." "They're all on file?" "The computer knows if they've had rouble?" "And what kind of trouble." "We have a center that issues smart card." "They're only given if there's been no security problem and if the man's paid his taxes." "That's means he's clean." "It's like I'm the Prime Minister and Zucker, defense Minister." "I direct all civilian operations," "Zucker's heads the military, he keeps order." "For the first year of the Intifada the objective" "of the division leader and myself, the civilian chief, was to remain human beings." "Humane." "Because we know about war against... a civilian population, not an army, against women and children, against men..." "Some men are armed, some children are armed," "some kids toss Molotov cocktails." "Some throw grenades or fire guns." "but most don't do that." "The problem is, how do you distinguish them?" "Another problem:" "how does the army stay pure?" "Is that possible?" "Difficult, but possible." "When I was here for the four years of the Intifada, until now," "I wanted to avoid what other armies did in a civil revolution." "You know very well that this Intifada could be stopped in a week" "if we used tanks." "The tanks open fire, 10,000 die, and it's over." "Like in Damascus, like in Jordan," "like the French did in Algeria." "But we, a jewish army," "children of Shoah, we knew we had no right to do that, we can't do it." "Even if the government ordered us to fire at kids, we wouldn't." "SCHMUEL ZUCKER" "My father has no family in Israel." "He whole family, brothers and sisters, were killed in the camps." "He came to Israel in 1930." "First he was in the Haganah." "Later he joined the British army and went to fight the Germans in Greece." "He was captured in Crete and put in a POW camp in Germany," "but he escaped." "A Canadian patrol found him in the snow." "He spent a year in a London hospital, then returned to Israel." "My mother was in Gen. Montgomery's HQ in Egypt, in Cairo, then in Alexandria." "After the war, she worked for the Shai." "The Shai was like today's Mossad, the Israeli secret service." "You might say I was born into a family that always said" "Israel was the only country for us after World War II." "They said you mustn't take, you must give to the state, the country." "I went to fficers school in the desert at Mitspe Ramon." "For 20 years I learned how to make war against an enemy... but not how to rule a civilian area like Gaza." "DAVID GROSSMAN Writer" "AVIGDOR FELDMAN" "SCHLOMO GAZIT Maj. General (Reserve)" "AMOS OZ Writer" "DAVID GROSSMAN:" "URI ARIEL" "EHUD BARAK"