Super-friendly soldiers

In the old city yesterday I once again came across a group of Israeli soldiers gathered for some kind of training, this time on the old city rooftops with the sun setting behind them. Once again, I started trailing after them, like a puppy, and when I asked one of them if they were going to the kotel and could I follow them, they said they weren't but they'd take me there (!). I then spent the next half hour wandering the streets and alleys of the old city with these guys. They wouldn't admit that they were lost, and they wouldn't ask anyone but a fellow soldier for directions. Since most of the soldiers around were from the same unit, nobody knew how to get around, but of course no one would admit they didn't know, so we went in quite a few circles.

Of course, I was happy as a clam, getting to shmooze with these guys. They were all commanders training commanders in the infantry unit, which, I got the impression, was not a small deal. I asked them about what the toughest thing about their job was. They answered that it was the responsibility of command (they thought of their charges as their children), and the sleep deprivation (they count themselves as lucky if they three hours a night). The one I spoke with the most is in his last year of service and is continuing on to officer's training - another year and a half. Both of his older brothers and his father were officers, so for him it's not even a question. Plus, he says, the money's good - 7000 shekels (~$1700) a month, tax free, all of which goes into the bank.

I asked about last summer's war, which they all served in, and heard first hand all the horror stories I'd read about - being trapped in Lebanon, with the enemy behind and in front of them, no supplies, feeling abandoned. I asked if he was angry and he said yes, and then I asked if he was cynical and he said no - he was more energized. He, like most Israelis I've spoken to about this, is absolutely sure another war with Lebanon and probably Syria is coming, and he is also convinced that Iran and the U.S. will be pulled in as well. Though last summer was bad, everybody is training now with a purpose, with an acute awareness of the stakes, and with a certainty that the training will be put into action in the very near future.