IDF hero shares his story
ONE soldier was killed and two others were trapped when Yogev Ofir’s Israel Defence Forces (IDF) unit was ambushed during the war with Hamas in Gaza last year.
The 22-year-old officer, pictured at the funeral of his commander, ran straight to the site and gave medical assistance to his mates while returning fire.
When he ran out of ammunition, he used the guns of the soldiers who had been hurt and provided cover so the wounded could be evacuated.
Ofir, who was injured by a grenade during the battle, survived, received the Chief of Staff decoration for his actions from the IDF and will be in Sydney this month to tell his story as part of the United Israel Appeal (UIA) campaign.
“It’s very important for me to come to Australia because I feel like it is my duty,” Ofir told The AJN from Israel.
“I really see this is a mission for the State of Israel, but this time without a weapon. I’m very happy to be able to present my own personal story.”
He said the last eight months, since the incident, have been life-changing.
“When you see death in front of your eyes and you win your life back, then you look at things completely different,” he said.
“When I saw my parents in the hospital for the first time it was a sense of relief because throughout the whole operation and even on my way back I was worried about others but then at that moment I knew I had nothing to worry about.”
He said the experience made him more Zionistic. “I had to stop a wound of a fellow soldier because otherwise he would die.
I was protecting myself and all of the Jewish people.” UIA NSW executive director Sagi Ben-Yosef, who served in the IDF, said that bringing out soldiers like Ofir to speak is very special.
“On a personal level, he is more important than Richard Kemp and other big speakers.
He is the essence of Israel and that is why we are taking him to schools,” Ben-Yosef said.
Yogev Ofir will appear at UIA NSW events next week and speak at UIA Young Leadership on March 11.
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JOSHUA LEVI
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