It looks obvious

I served, as a soldier and as an officer, in the Israeli army for 13 years. During this time I served under several commander, some better and some worse - but one was remarkable. It was a honor to serve as a staff officer of Gershon Hachohen and an experience I will always treasure.

Gershon was never the John Waine type of an officer, and most armies wouldn’t put his picture on recruitment posters. However Gershon represent in many ways the essence of being an officer - deeply intellectual, brilliant tactician and , surprisingly, charismatic leader; which earn the love of his troops without using the cheap, and empty, gestures many lesser commanders are using.

watching the movie about the disengagement (in Hebrew) which open a small window into Gershon’s personality was very touching for me. It is easy to discuss the disengagement in the emotional level, and it would be easy choice to Gershon which had to evacuate his friends and Family. Nevertheless Gershon was able to rise above that and to evaluate the his values and believes and to decide that the security of the Israeli statehood and democracy require him to carry the evacuation orders.

In these days, after the horrifying demonstration in Lebanon, it is comforting to know that the Army is being lead mainly by officers like Gershon and not by Officers like Col. Shlomi Cohen.