Who says the border with Lebanon is quiet

So as I was mentioning in my last blog post about how boring and regular everything is here, well not much has changed except for almost a war breaking out!!!! So what happened? What caused this battle? First I will summarize to the best of my ability but don't expect any insiders info (mainly because I don't have any - its all published in the news) I will just summarize and explain what happened. So one of the regular activities that the IDF is doing is clearing obstacles that obstruct Israel's line of sight into Lebanon. The obstacles they are clearing are within enclaves. An enclave is defined as the area between the Blue Line and the border fence. The fence is a metal barrier (maybe 2 meters high) which is the physical barrier separating Israel and Lebanon. The blue Line is the internationally recognized border between the two countries. The fence is located on the Israeli side of the Blue Line and is independent from the Blue Line. There is no law saying that the two must lie one on top of the other. Thus in more locations than not there are these pockets (enclaves) created where one can cross the fence (from the Israeli side) and still be on Israeli territory. On the other hand - from the Lebanese side, before one gets to the fence they may have already crossed the international border - the Blue Line. On a side note, even though the Blue Line is not defined physically on the ground Israel and Lebanon know exactly where it is. Typically it is Joe the Lebanese farmer and his herd of whatever that probably unknowingly crosses the international border line trying to control his herd as they get closer to the fence.

So on August 3rd Lebanon decided it was going to make some news. It seems that someone called up a bunch of news stations (because there was an unusual amount of journalists in the area just by coincidence). They might have said to the journalists something like 'hey, theres going to be some news happening today, maybe you should come check it out.' So while they are waiting for the news to happen, the IDF was uprooting a tree on the western side of the fence (the side closest to Lebanon) yet still Israeli territory because it was in one of these enclaves. It is important to note that the IDF told UNIFIL (united nations interim forces in lebanon) prior to the uprooting of the tree about this ROUTINE work. As this is happening, a LAF (lebanese armed forces) sniper opens fire on Lt. Col. Dov Harari, RIP and kills him instantly with a bullet to the cheek right below the eye. Another officer was also wounded by gunfire. The fact that these high ranking officers were shot at and not the soldiers that were actually removing the tree shows that it was even more so a preplanned attack. With this being the spark, what followed was artillery from both sides and tank fire from Israel in what turned out to be nothing more than a one day battle.

So what was my heroic role in all this? Having returned to base from my 5 day weekend the day before, we joined our platoon out in the field. We did not yet switch with the crew that was on its way home for their weekend so I was not on call and therefore did not have a tank to jump to when the emergency occurred. I helped to prepare the tanks for the other 2 crews and then sat out in the hot sun with my vest and helmet on for 6 hours waiting... waiting... waiting... until suddenly we heard a vehicle come speeding around the corner towards our direction. It turned into our camp area and came screeching to a sudden halt. A soldier hopped out of the jeep opened the trunk, left a large crate for us, jumped back in the jeep and sped away. So what was this surprise mystery crate? First I will recap the last few sentences as I might have over-exaggerated a tad. (words inside the brackets to replace the previous word) So after sitting in the sun for 6 hours (not an exaggeration) waiting... waiting... waiting... until suddenly (finally) we heard a vehicle come speeding (driving at a normal speed) around the corner towards our direction. It turned into our camp area and came screeching (-) to a sudden (-) halt. A soldier hopped out of the jeep opened the trunk, left (handed) a large crate (cooler) for us, jumped (got) back in the jeep and sped (drove) away. At that moment it was 630PM and what we FINALLY got was lunch! After 'lunch' we got picked up and taken out of the field because it was realized that without a tank we were completely useless and there was nothing for us to do. They took us to where the pluga is stationed and over there we continued to do nothing until we went back to the field the next day. By the time everything had 'calmed' down it was back to our regular work and I had missed all the action (not that had I been in the tank I would have seen any, but nonetheless).

One day the following week we went to the shooting range to sharpen our skills (have fun) with the M16 and MAG. In addition to this practice we also practiced putting out fires. This wasn't part of the original plan, but I suppose it makes for more interesting day and blog post. So when someone fires an automatic machine gun aiming at the same spot on a hot and dry day it is likely that a bush or shrub might catch on fire. Well, we weren't fast enough at putting out that small fire before another shrub caugt fire and the wind caused it to spread. We debated if the wind would change and the fire would die down on its own or if we could put it out ourselves or if the fire department would shortly arrive to put it out themselves, etc. There were times we thought the fire was small enough that we could get close enough to put it out but then it got bigger. When we thought the fire would put itself out the wind changed direction causing the fire to spread. After about an hour we got our act together and finally put the fire out. Conveniently that was the exact moment that the fire department showed up. We told them thanks for nothing and they turned around without even getting out of their truck.

So I'm sure the question on everyone's mind is when do you get to see me? Well the easy and simple answer is the come to Israel. Or you can wait until I finally get some time off to come home for a visit. So I am supposed to get 30 days off from the army every year to come home for a visit. So how much time has passed? As of Friday August 20th, I am one year in the army!!! How exciting!!! Additionally, i don't know if you have noticed or not but I have yet to come home for a visit! So the army has a funny way of managing to screw you over in any and every situation. So without getting into that too much, I have finally been granted time off - not quite sure on the dates yet, so I don't want to get everyone's hopes up. So during my weekend off, Saturday night to be specific I got a call from my commander saying that I need to go first thing Sunday morning to take care of some paperwork related to being able to fly home. This news was very frustrating to hear, but it didn't stop me from meeting up with some fans of http://kaldorskorner.blogspot.com for some beers in Jerusalem. The night was K4Z and the fans were excited to meet the man behind the blog. I managed to take a quick hour and 45 minute nap before waking up to catch a 645 bus. I had called the bus company Saturday night to see what time I needed to catch the bus to be at my destination by 10AM. They told me that if I take the 645 bus I will get there at 1015. I then clarified that I needed to be there by 10, and the lady on the line said I was taking the first bus. This was definitely my first hint that Sunday was not going to be a day that was going to go my way. I also found out that it was likely that what I needed to do could most likely be done over the phone or avoid it altogether. So I finally get where I need to go and take care of the business I need to take care of, which takes exactly 5 minutes as expected. Fast forward to 3PM where I get off one bus and I am waiting for another one of several buses that I needed to take throughout the day. I wait almost an hour for the bus and then I suddenly get a call from my company commander saying that he wants to confirm the document that I was given to make sure that I had done everything I needed to do and that I was to wait for him at a close by location in 20 minutes. Super, just what I wanted - another thing delaying me getting home and resuming my day off that is slowly going to waste. The second that I get off the phone with him, the bus that I was waiting for for almost an hour conveniently arrives. So I get delayed by almost another hour and manage to catch the 445 bus. My weekend finally resumes when I got back to my kibbutz at 630 - 12 hours after I had started my day. Instead of spending the day by the pool/beach in Tel Aviv I rode buses halfway across the damn country... and back! Hopefully this is the end of all the bullshit that I have to go through in order to get my time off to come home, but I'm only expecting to be shit on more (not in the good luck way).