Ahead of the High Holidays, Israel Hayom speaks to three Israeli soldiers who continue to guard the nation during the festivities.
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Among them are Pinchas Ivgi, who overlooks shooting zones in southern Israel, Capt. Yiftach Valensi, in charge of protecting Israel's southern maritime border, and Dor Hever of the Etzion Regional Brigade.
Pinchas Ivgi
Firing zones in the south
"We clear dozens of duds before the holiday."
Pinchas Ivgi, a civilian employed by the IDF who is in charge of the military and civilian activity in the firing zones under the IDF Southern Command's jurisdiction, is already prepared for the arrival of visitors during the month of Tishrei. Forty-seven-year-old Ivgi was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and moved to Israel when he was 20. He served in the Nachal Brigade's 50th Infantry Battalion, advancing in rank to deputy battalion commander.
Several years after he retired from the military, he returned to it as a civilian. Today, Ivgi is the head of MATAM - the IDF's Training and Facilities Coordination Center – and is responsible for all the firing zones in the south of Israel. Ivgi coordinates training exercises in firing zones alongside extensive civilian activities.
"This includes every activity in firing zones in the south – military training exercises, company and brigade level exercises, and flights. All of it goes through me," Ivgi, an Ashdod resident and father of five, said. "This is a very vast firing zone. Eighty percent of the IDF's firing zones are under the Southern Command's jurisdiction. In addition, there is vast civilian activity and even botanical research in the firing zones."
When asked that the central important of his work was, Ivgi answered, "My job is to allow military and civilian activity to take place without people getting hurt. We are an army within a nation and not the other way around. I work with all the regional councils and environmental organizations. A core value of my job is to preserve the natural reserves in the area. It is important to minimize the impact on civilian life and allow the IDF to train.
"I have connections with all the governmental agencies and regional councils and everyone in the tourism industry. As part of my role, I authorized the size reduction of a firing zone to allow civilians to sandboard, and tens of thousands of visitors are in our areas every year.
"In addition, there are companies that study natural phenomena and do research in the firing zones, and I am in contact with security and civilian companies."
Speaking about the special preparations ahead of the Jewish holidays, Ivgi said, "Three times a year – during the Tishrei holidays, on Hanukkah, and the month of Nissan – we 'dry out' all the firing zones in the south. I halt the training exercises to allow civilians to visit. We are flooded with civilians during the holidays.
"Everything is open, but the civilians must coordinate with us first; it is still an enormously vast firing zone. IDF units conduct thorough searches before the holidays and clean up the firing zones before the arrival of civilians. Before every holiday, we find dozens of duds and detonate them. Additionally, we conduct a thorough scan to identify any other potential hazards."
Capt. Yiftach Valensi
Squadron 916
"We rescued six Israelis whose boat began sinking in the middle of the sea"
Twenty-three-year-old Capt. Yiftach Valensi is the commander of the Dvora-Class Combat Patrol Boat in the IDF Navy's Squadron 916. Its sailors are entrusted with safeguarding the southern maritime border, thwarting maritime smuggling, and preventing the infiltration of terrorists. Even during the High Holidays, they continue fulfilling their duty on their routine security patrols.
Alongside their ongoing activity, Valensi and the sailors under his command thwarted incidents caused by hostiles at sea.
"I command a Devora-Class Patrol Boat that guards Israel's southern maritime borders off the coast of the Gaza Strip," he said. "We patrol and prevent Gaza-related targets from entering Israeli territory. Our area of jurisdiction is from Egypt and northward until the Mikhmoret area. Most of our work is conducted off the Gaza Strip coast and includes preventing smuggling and safeguarding the maritime border. We mainly deal with Gaza vessels. We are there under every sea condition, even when dealing with the Gaza Strip's population."
In addition to the operational activity, the soldiers aid civilian vessels. About four months ago, Valensi and his team rescued six Israeli citizens whose boat began sinking in the middle of the sea.
"About four months ago, the Southern Arena's Control Squadron detected a distress signal from a vessel at sea at two in the morning while it was pitch black outside," Valensi recounted. "We arrived at the scene, about 50 kilometers off the coast, and saw an Israeli fishing boat beginning to sink. We managed to get the boat's six passengers aboard our boat, and their boat sank a few seconds afterward."
A similar incident occurred in Squadron 916's area of jurisdiction only half a year ago. A civilian boat that departed from the Ashdod port began sinking, and the IDF Navy forces rescued the father and his children, the boat's passengers, before it sank.
"Our primary mission is guarding the waters off the Gaza Strip coast," Valensi said, but "we safeguard the maritime area to ensure the safety of every Israeli civilian at all times, especially during the holidays, so that Israel will be able to celebrate the holidays peacefully and quietly and enjoy them. We keep Israel safe from the sea."
Maj. Dor Hever
Etzion Regional Brigade
"The biggest challenge is guarding the communities."
Maj. Dor Hever, home defense officer of the Etzion Regional Brigade, knows thousands of Gush Etzion residents, and her job is to bridge between the IDF and Israeli civilians.
Twenty-five years old, she serves in a region in which she is responsible for the security system of ten farms, three industrial zones, and 21 communities. All authorized civilian trips in the region have been going through her for the past five years, and she stressed the IDF and the civilian security system's readiness for terror attacks.
Hever was born in Petah Tikva and is part of a military family. Her older sister serves in the IDF Intelligence Corps Unit 8200, her younger sister also serves in the IDF Intelligence Corps, and her father is an officer in the Israeli Prison Service.
"My job is to defend the Israeli communities in my region and oversee the communities' security components (such as security fences, cameras, etc.). But beyond that, it also involves coordinating civilian trips concerning military security and training the civilian security system, including the rapid response teams – the entire realm of home defense," she said.
"In addition, I am also responsible for defending the tourism areas and industrial zones in Gush Etzion, all while being in contact with the residents, regional councils, and the communities' secretaries. We provide military escorts for all civilian events and are in close contact with them. We work according to the events of the Gush Etzion civilians, who allow this direct contact to occur between us and make the work between us fantastic."
Hever praised the people of Gush Etzion, saying, "The civilians are one-of-a-kind, who give and help, know how to talk, always enlist themselves to every task in the security system and the region. It is fun to work in this manner. The Home Defense is a unique cog in the IDF machine, and the work in Judea and Samaria is different than in all other places. I have had this job for five years and love the challenging work. The level of caring here is high, as is the level of work, from the soldiers to the community security personnel."
With the approaching holiday season, there is increased readiness and preparation.
"During the holidays, everything is more sensitive. The IDF's readiness is higher for the bigger number of trips in the region. There are times when there are thousands of visitors in certain areas. The number of visitors is exceptionally high, and this area is highly visited. We do our best to allow the civilians to live their lives. In addition, many events are held here. Since the number of visitors increases during the holidays, we position military security in these areas alongside the civilian trips requiring privately coordinated military security.
"The importance of military security is high in certain areas. We worked a lot with the regional councils here so that civilians will coordinate their visits with us."
Hever asked to convey a message, "With the holidays approaching, the biggest challenge is defending the communities and ensuring that the holidays pass peacefully and well. We want to see that people are happy coming here and are not afraid of doing so. Everything here, from the region's history to the views, is incredible. Every year, the number of visitors goes up. It is great to see that people feel comfortable and want to come. That they feel the effort we make in terms of security. We request that people coordinate their trips with us during this time so that we can be in control. We protect the region with the best means available so everyone will have a high sense of security."
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