‘The Lion’s Gate; on the front lines of the Six Day War’ by Steven Pressfield

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Egypt, Golan Heights, Jerusalem, Jordan, Moshe Dayan, Sinai, Six-Day War

 

 

‘The Lion’s Gate’ is a fascinating attempt to present the events before and during the Six Day War of June 1967, when Israel’s forces (the IDF) overcame the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan, thus staving off what the Arab leaders had proclaimed as the imminent annihilation of Israel as a country and the extermination of its Jewish population.

I jumped at the chance to review it for the San Diego Jewish World website as it shows the military aspect of a momentous event that I experienced personally, and even described in my novel, ‘The Balancing Game.’

The author has eschewed conventional historical narrative, preferring to interview participants and elicit first-hand, blow-by-blow accounts of the progress of the war on the various fronts as experienced by individual soldiers in the different Israeli brigades. This approach gives the reader a vivid – almost immediate – sense of participation in the actual events as undergone by individual pilots, soldiers in the field, officers, generals, reconnaissance operatives and even journalists and photographers.

The book adheres to an approximation of consecutive sequence, though as so many diverse and widely-dispersed developments were unfolding more or less simultaneously the description of the course of events is inevitably somewhat haphazard. What emerges from the various voices, which are quoted verbatim, as it were, is the frustration of the fighting forces in the period before the fighting broke out, the courage, the sense of urgency and the dedication of all those involved, the chaos and need for improvisation in the course of the fighting, and the enormous feeling of closeness experienced by men who had trained, fought and edured battle together, true brothers-in-arms. Two slogans ‘ein brera’ (no alternative) and ‘dvekut bematara’ (adhering to the objective) stand out as the motivating force behind the actions of both the individual soldier and the IDF as a whole. But another concept that lay behind many of the actions of the commanders and the soldiers was ‘balagan’ or chaos, which enabled many military incidents to develop in ways that had not been foreseen.

The accounts that emerge through the statements given by the participants also incorporates their philosophical musings about the battles, the nature of war, and their feelings in general. Thus, at one point we encounter this quote from Moshe Peled, the deputy commander of a company striving to surround and enter east Jerusalem: “What is our advance like? Little wars… all over the field. A house, a bunker, a machine-gun position. Each one is a war that is fought by a platoon, a section, sometimes just three or four men. What keeps them together? They are friends – simple as that.”

The fog of war features prominently in the various accounts, the opportunities missed, the mistakes made, the wrong turnings taken by tanks, the accidents, the friendly fire incidents, no failure on the part of the IDF is omitted. But the combat on the ground was preceded by massive and carefully-planned lightning strikes by Israel’s Air Force, and these played a crucial role in determining the outcome of the war. The seminal role played by Moshe Dayan, who was appointed Minister of Defence just a few days before the hostilities began as a result of public pressure placed on Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, features prominently in the book, using exerpts from his own writings.

Many of the developments of the war were unexpected. The rapid disintegration of the Egyptian forces entrenched in the Sinai Desert enabled the IDF to advance to the Suez Canal; the fervent determination of the commanders and soldiers of the paratroop brigades to enter the Old City of Jerusalem overcame the disbelief and initial resistance of the politicians and their superiors; the pleas of the residents of the kibbutzim in the Jezreel Valley, which for years had been the target of Syrian troops situated on the Golan Heights, motivated the commanders in the field to spur their men on to take the forbidding plateau.

Contemplating the IDF victory in the Sinai, Cheetah Cohen, commander of a helicopter squadron, says: “I feel sorry for the Egyptians. The poor foot soldiers, most of whom are simple fellahin – peasants from the delta – have been abandoned by their officers. They straggle westward in columns of fifty or a hundred, sometimes tens and pairs and even individuals, barefoot and bareheaded. God knows what they are suffering from thirst and heat, grief and shattered pride.”

While the cost of the war in Israeli casualties was not high in relative numbers, each and every man killed represented a devastating loss to his comrades, friends and family, and the book concludes with a list of the ten men of the Reconnaissance company of the 7^th Armored Brigade decorated for valor or distinguished service (three of them posthumously) and the 16 men who were killed in action.

My one quibble is with the apostrophe in the book’s title. The Hebrew term for the gate refers to lions in the plural, not just one. And there were, indeed, a great many lions in the epic event that was the Six Day War.

 

 

 

 

Pesach/Passover in Jerusalem

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Bible Lands Museum, German Colony Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Israel Museum, National Library, Philomena, Science Museum

  

Despite the dire warnings of traffic jams and accidents on all the roads throughout Israel, we decided to take advantage of a lull in our various activities and go to take in a movie (Philomena) in town. This involves a half-hour drive from our home just outside Jerusalem into the heart of the new city, the German Colony. This is an area, originally on the outskirts of the city but today pretty central, which was built by Germans, members of a Christian sect known as Templers in the middle of the nineteenth century. The original inhabitants of the old houses and tree-lined streets have long since left the country (some of them were deported by the British Mandate authorities during the Second World War, while others–including relatives of mine—were exchanged for concentration-camp inmates).

 The spring-like weather was enticing, but we resisted the temptation to indulge in a picnic in one of the parks in the Jerusalem area. It is at times like these that families and groups of youngsters go out into nature to barbecue meat, engage in rowdy games and turn their radios and karaoke equipment up to full volume.

 As we made our way into town we were able to see ultra-orthodox families with a string of children of all ages and sizes walking towards the parks and museums that are to be found in the Givat Ram area which houses the Knesset, the Hebrew University campus, government buildings and our own ‘Museum Mile’ (the Israel Museum, Bible Lands Museum, Science Museum) and will one day be the site of the new National Library.

 The families, all dressed in their best clothes (black trousers and white shirts for the men and boys, dresses and knee-length socks or stockings for the women and girls), were out in force. Some of the men wore fur hats, denoting their membership of one Chassidic sect or another, and of course all the married women were at pains to cover their hair. It has been suggested to me that this is to prevent them catching headlice from their children, but it is in fact an ancient religious proscription, harking back to the days when it was considered unseemly for a woman to display her hair. This was once common to most of the Western world but has since died out, although Queen Elizabeth still always appears in public with a hat of some kind or another (or a crown).

 As we espied more and more of these families I began to wonder about what lies ahead for Israel. Most of the people we saw will perpetuate the ultra-orthodox way of life, producing ever more children in a geometric progression. Most of those children will not serve in the army, will not work will not pay taxes and will benefit from Israel’s welfare society. If that trend continues, the burden of defending Israel and supporting its workforce will fall on the country’s shrinking secular population. Eventually a time will come when Israel will no longer be a viable country, and will either implode or be conquered by whomever is the strongest entity at the time.

 It certainly is a depressing prospect, and it is this, it seems, that lies behind the efforts of the current government – flawed as it is – to change the situation by obliging ultra-orthodox young men to serve in the army or undertake communal service, as well as to encourage them to gain sufficient general education to enable them to obtain useful employment. Whether this endeavour succeeds or not depends to a great extent on the political state of affairs, and the preservation of the current coalition which excludes the ultra-orthodox from the cabinet. One can only hope that given the pressures now being brought to bear on the government from various quarters, those at the helm will find the strength to keep the ship of state afloat.

 

America, America…

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Baltimore, Boston, Maryland, New York, Richmond Virginia, San Diego, Washington

 

Returning from a four-week jaunt across the USA in which we visited six cities and met countless relatives and friends – both old and new – it took no time at all to get used to the pace of life in Israel. That may be due in part to the fact that our last port of call was New York, which is even noisier, pushier and more raucous than our home stamping ground just outside Jerusalem. Suddenly our way of life seems positively sedate, though from our experience New York is the exception rather than the rule regarding the American tempo of living.

 

Apart from the god-given gift of spaciousness that characterizes the American cities and homes we visited, what stands out in my memory is the warmth and kindness of the people we met. Of course, our friends and relatives in Boston, Maryland, Washington, Richmond, San Diego and Brooklyn were all at pains to make us feel welcome and loved, and I hope we managed to show how much we appreciated all the kindness, warmth and generosity of which we were the recipients. But all the people we encountered – whether in stores, cafés, airlines or restaurants – were invariably courteous and helpful.

 

We started off in Boston, where the icy cold bit into our bones and obliged us to wear our warmest clothing, and as we progressed through the various cities the weather gradually got balmier, to the point that in San Diego we had to buy some lighter clothing (one T-shirt, actually). But that was more or less the only shopping we did, much to the disgust of our children and grandchildren in Israel, for whom USA is the Mecca of retail therapy (but of course we brought back gifts for each one).

 

But for us, apart from the wonderful interpersonal encounters, the high points of our trip were the cultural events – concerts and museum visits, in each and every place we visited. We are no strangers to the museums and art galleries of Europe, and of course the local offerings in Israel are not to be sneezed at either, but the wide range and richness of the art collections to be found in Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Richmond, San Diego and of course New York left us wishing we had more time (and younger feet) to take in all the goodies on offer. A performance by the Boston Symphony, an orchestral rehearsal in San Diego and a chamber concert in Brooklyn were just the icing on the cake.

 

When it comes to the other kind of goodies – the edible kind – we were often left wondering what has come over the American populace. There were times when we were unable to finish a soup which was described as tomato but tasted of anything but, or to find a sandwich that did not include cheese – melted or not – with the chicken, turkey or other filling. What with that and the proliferation of fast-food outlets, there’s no need to look any further for the source of the obesity epidemic assailing America.

 

Indian food is greatly overrated, in my opinion, and whatever one orders tends to taste the same. In the sole Indian restaurant we visited the manager was waiting for us as we left, our bill (‘check’) in his hand, asking us several times if we had not been satisfied with the service (the service was fine, the food inedible). Eventually we understood that he thought that our tip had not been large enough, so we gave him another five dollars and left, swearing never to go there again.

 

I was fortunate to be able to benefit from several ‘parlour meetings’ in San Diego and Brooklyn where I could talk about my novel, ‘The Balancing Game,’ and sign the copies that were bought by members of the audience. I’m eternally grateful to all those who went to considerable lengths to organize those events, and can only hope that the kind people who bought my book will enjoy reading it.

 

 

 

 

A TICO Rehearsal

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Aaron Copland, Abraham Lincoln, Dave Scott, David Amos, Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra, Vinvent Persichetti, Wallingford Rieger, Walter Piston

Anyone who is invited to a rehearsal by an orchestra has to feel especially privileged, as I and my husband, Yigal, did a few days ago during our stay in San Diego. Conductors  tend to be notoriously secretive about their working methods, but this was not the case with David Amos, the conductor of the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra, popularly known as TICO, who enabled us to gain a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of a full-blown orchestra.

The first thing that struck us as we entered the hall where the rehearsal was already in full swing  was the rich sound that emanated from the sixty or more members who were playing the complex rhythms of Walter Piston’s ballet suite, ‘The Incredible Flutist.’ This will form part of the orchestra’s forthcoming ‘Americana’ concert, which will also include works by Wallingford Riegger, Vincent Persichetti, and Aaron Copland.  It will be performed April 6 and 8 evenings at Tifereth Israel Synagogue.

By chance, our arrival at the rehearsal happened to coincide with that of San Diego TV personality, Dave Scott, accompanied by a  KUSI-TV television crew, there to film the event for subsequent broadcast. This was occasioned by the orchestra’s performance of Persochetti’s work entitled ‘A Lincoln Address,’ which combines atmospheric musical interludes with the narrator reading Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, given in 1865.

To me, as an Israeli citizen, the address had a special significance because of its references to the American Civil War, and especially its concluding words, ‘…to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.’ I don’t know if this was intended or fortuitous, but those words are just as apt for the Middle East, and the situation of Israel today, as they were for America then.

In fact, the address contains several passages from the Bible, and — possibly because of his first name — Lincoln may well have regarded his role as something akin to that of figures from the Old Testament, for even the non-biblical passages in his speech seem to echo the rolling cadences of the Bible (King James version, of course).

Be that as it may, it was both a privilege and a pleasure to hear Scott read the text of the speech, interspersed with Persichetti’s music, which was played by the orchestra with great sensitivity. Conductor Amos urged the musicians on to ever greater heights of music-making, achieving an impressive quality of sound.

One passage in the piece by Piston required the members of the orchestra to stand up, the violinists to wave their bows in the air, and all of them to cheer and create the hullabaloo that would sound like a cheering crowd as the circus comes to town. This provided a moment of relaxation for the players and amusement for the audience. However, after Amos found that the cameraman had taken leave of absence and omitted to film that part we were treated to a repeat performance (with the cameraman in his place this time). So we benefited from a double dose of fun.

The concert is due to conclude with four dance episodes from Copland’s ‘Rodeo’ ballet, and these are touching, exciting, and raucous by turn, providing a rousing ending to a concert devoted to American music. Amos worked hard to imbue the passages that we heard being rehearsed with the energy and musicality necessary to enable the audience to enjoy the music to the full. He made no concessions allowing for the fact that the entire orchestra is comprised mainly of amateur musicians, albeit of an extremely high standard.

We left marveling at what has been achieved by a combination of willpower, practice, and dedication