The guest posting below was kindly provide to us by IDF soldier Yoav B.; we urge you to take a look at his compelling new blog, "Israeli Soldier's Life & Thoughts."

My name is Yoav and I am a soldier in the IDF, currently posted in Judea and Samaria.

Just over a month ago, my company commemorated Tel Hai Day with an impressive ceremony. Every Israeli has been to Tel Hai at least once in his life (and most of us more than once), especially when you live in the Galilee, like me. The story is short, brutal and plain: Eight men gave their lives in the name of Zionism. They gave their lives because they wouldn’t bow to the Arab terrorists. They gave their lives so the future state of Israel would be slightly bigger, and I will be able, about 80 years later, to go to school on the Galilee panhandle.

Hearing the story of those eight men with IDF uniforms on makes you truly understand why the IDF exists: Because this land, the promised land, where so much of our blood was shed, is ours, and no one will make us leave it.

Sderot and all those cities, towns and kibbutzes around Gaza strip are the new frontier. They are all Tel Hai’s. Each and every citizen there wakes up every morning and says to himself, to his people and to the people of the world: We will not be exiled from our homes. Just like those men in Tel Hai almost a century ago, they put their lives on the line every day, because they won’t let go.

This is what inspires us, IDF’s soldiers. This is what motivates us. This is the reason we wear our uniforms proudly and do what we can to defend this country and its people day after day.

To all those people living with fear of rockets in their hearts: We salute you! We will be privileged to help defending you all, and with God’s help, allow you to look at the skies looking for clouds and not rockets.

And to all those people abroad contributing money to those in harm’s way: Just before Tel Hai’s people fell in battle, the Jewish leadership in Israel decided not to send reinforcements to aid the settlement, and only a few volunteers arrived. The Israeli Government is failing to provide Sderot and its area with the reinforcements they need so much.

You are the new volunteers.

With appreciation,
Yoav B.
Author: "Israeli Soldier's Life & Thoughts" blog