Officers Training School, Wednesday, July 24. Could I be more proud? My eldest child is an officer in the IDF! One does not comprehend the magnitude until one sees the nearly 700 newly graduating officers march into the forecourt, accompanied by the army band (including son No. 2 playing his trombone).
And this is not the only ceremony for officers to have taken place since October 7. This means that during our most turbulent of times, thousands of young men and women have chosen to sign on for extra army service.
In the age of the I-generation, whose members supposedly think only of themselves, that is an incredible statistic. One has to stop and think as to why, in such difficult and often frightening times, these young men and women have chosen this path?
Is it because, as Golda famously told the once senator Joe Biden, we have nowhere else to go? Is it because our society is interwoven with community projects and charity drives? Or possibly because so many of our youth have fostered a feeling of community due to their participation in youth movements?
Looking around the packed stands in the arena, I was struck by something else. Each soldier was permitted to issue five invitations. But this is Israel! I know that at least eight people were there for Itai. The people in the row in front were clearly from one family, and they must have numbered at least 15. You could see the same in the cases of other families, the unsubtle clue being 20 people wearing the same uniquely printed T-shirt in honor of a particular graduating solider.
There were not nearly enough seats for all of the guests. The aisles were full in a clearly dangerous manner, but again, in that Israeli way, no one cared. From all over the country, families drove down south for this ceremony.
When Brig.-Gen. Eliav Elbaz (the new head of the Officers Training School) spoke, he began by thanking the families.
Without having done any research, I am assuming there is a connection between the families of these officers and their children’s decisions to become officers. Judging by the joy, the happiness, and the pride etched on the faces in the crowd, it is safe to assume that the vast majority of families have supported the child’s decision. They supported the initial national service, and they have probably imbued their children with values such as community, citizenship, giving, serving, and leadership. Yes, as Elbaz said, these men and women are our next generation of leaders.
Maj.-Gen. Saar Tzur, commander of the Northern Corps and head of Maneuver Array, addressed the new officers and offered his 10 personal tips for being an officer. Whilst being authentic, they were exactly what you would expect them to be, precisely the advice you would give to anyone taking a position of leadership. Yet we are in Israel, context is everything, and subtext can be even more than that. Tzur told the officers that decisions have to be made. So make them! And stand by them! Most of time they will be the right decisions, and sometimes they will be wrong. But stand behind them. And always, always, no matter what, take responsibility for them.
I CAN only speak for myself when I say that my mind immediately ran to one particular man in this country who refuses to take responsibility for the wrong decisions he has made and for those decisions he has refused to make.
My mind shudders to think that our new generation of officers looks at the prime minister and believes that this is the way to lead, that this is the way to behave. I imagined the prime minister standing in front of these officers and giving the same advice. He could not because he would be ridiculed.
Tzur’s comments were not aimed at the prime minister; they were generic pieces of advice for the next generation of officers. They were sound words of guidance from a man who has obviously dedicated his life to our country and learned some worthy life lessons with regard to leadership. Moreover, he was applauded by thousands of Israelis when he finished his speech.
Although the prime minister was busy with his trip in the US, I hope that Tzur’s words reach him. They will show him that despite his best efforts, our next generation of officers is being taught how to be moral and upstanding leaders, leaders who take responsibility for their decisions.
The writer is head of admissions and staff recruitment at the Ankori Educational Network, and a former principal of two Ankori schools in Tel Aviv and Jaffa. He is also a counselor for couples and for parents.