The time has come to tell about another miracle that took place in the north of our country on that terrible day that fell on the holiday of Simchat Torah.
At that moment, as we now well know, there was chaos and complete confusion in our military high command. Not only did the staff generals fail to anticipate the horrific invasion, hiding the risks and threats from the political leadership of the country, but for hours after the attack began, they were unable to take control of the situation.
The village (kibbutz) of Kfar Aza, located on the border with the Gaza Strip, which was invaded by at least a hundred terrorists of the infernal Nukhba, not counting the looters and pogromists among the “civilians” of Gaza itself, suffered a terrible blow. Out of just over seven hundred residents, 92 were killed and another 25 were captured, may G-d avenge the blood of the righteous.
Brig. Gen. Yisrael Shomer, 46, a resident of this kibbutz — commander of the 146th “a-Mapatz” Division, a reserve armored division in the Northern Military District — was caught up in the invasion during his morning jog. Suddenly, he heard gunfire — the on-duty unit of the local rapid response squad was desperately trying to hold off a terrorist attack. When grenade launcher shots rang out, the experienced general realized that things were bad. Without hesitation and without wasting time, the general sent his family and neighbors into hiding, while he himself, armed with only one knife, rushed to the aid of the defenders of the settlement.
Armed with virtually only cold weapons, the brave general soon managed to get hold of the assault rifle of one of the killed terrorists and went into battle with numerous enemies alone. Some time later, he was joined by the crew of the Golani brigade’s APC.
In the course of the hardest battle against the enemy forces, General Shomer, realizing the gravity of the situation, directly contacted the Chief of General Staff, informing him of the real situation.
It should be noted that the 146th “a-Mapatz” Division, commanded by General Shomer, according to open sources, is the key reserve division in the north of the country, with five infantry and armored brigades. In fact, it is the largest division in the entire IDF, with the largest number of brigades of any division.
This is an extremely serious military force, far surpassing all other units of the Northern Military District, such as, for example, the 91st Territorial Division “a-Galil” or the 474th Territorial Brigade “a-Golan”, each of which, according to open sources, only two brigades each, or even the 36th regular armored division “Gaash”, which includes four brigades (by the way, the 36th division was sent to the south in its entirety and thus was not in charge of defending the northern border).
In short, General Shomer’s division became the IDF’s main force, which throughout the months following the enemy invasion and defended our northern border against a possible Hizbullah invasion.
So, Brigadier General Shomer, fighting the terrorists near his home, and realizing that this is not a terrorist attack, but a full-scale invasion, a war for the continued existence of the country, realizing that a possible Hizbullah attack in the north could take place in just a matter of hours, at his own risk, orders his operational staff officer to begin urgent mobilization of the entire division — many thousands of soldiers, two tank brigades, three infantry brigades, an artillery division, an engineer battalion, intelligence, etc.
Right on Saturday and the holiday begins urgent mobilization and by evening the division is deployed on the Golan Heights. By nightfall, the division commander Brigadier General Shomer Israel arrives there from the south, straight from the battle in the south.
In my opinion, all of the above is a true miracle.
First of all, if the terrorists had only known that the immediate commander of the largest fighting force in the north lived in Kfar Aza, they would surely have made the capture of him and his family their first and most important objective.
Moreover, the brigadier general, alone, engaged in battle with dozens of well-equipped terrorists, armed only with a knife, only to then obtain a machine gun and receive reinforcements in the form of a crew of Golani APCs, not only did not die, G-d forbid, but was not wounded.
And finally, he not only managed not to be captured and survive, but also, fighting heroically, managed to give the order to mobilize his division, which was a powerful barrier to a possible invasion from the north. It is very possible that the leaders of Hizbullah, seeing how quickly the Israeli forces are deployed on the border, hesitated and did not dare to join the attack.
It is possible that this is what allowed the IDF to fully concentrate on the south and, having destroyed most of the Nukhba terrorists, begin to take control of the situation. Here they are, incredible examples of miracles revealed to us for the benefit of the people of Israel, and of courage and selflessness for the people of Israel.
“Bless G-d, for He is good, for His mercy is everlasting”!