Injured soldier thanks support charity
A SEVERELY injured Israeli war veteran helped by the Beit Halochem UK charity told his story at a dinner at The Dorchester where the 400 guests raised £900,000.
Omer Levi, 28, had been discharged from the IDF in 2011. But as a reservist, he was called back as an evacuation commander during the 2014 Gaza conflict. On the Gaza border, he was hit by a mortar shell fired by Hamas. Speaking to the JC, the law student recalled that “as a commander, my job was to evacuate wounded soldiers from the line of fire from inside the Gaza Strip.
“We would go in with armoured vehicles and take the soldiers back to Israel, so they could be treated properly at the nearest hospital.”
When an IDF vehicle was hit by a missile, “I fell to the floor. [Soldiers] raced towards me and cut off my shirt and bullet-proof vest. A lot of shrapnel had entered my body and I was bleeding pretty badly.”
Mr Levi saw the body of one of his friends, although at that stage he did not realise that he was dead. On that day, 20 comrades were injured and five friends, aged 19 to 33, were killed.
He was rushed back to Israel for six hours of emergency surgery. “I was in a coma. I had lost too much blood.”
He awoke four days later and within four months was walking again.
“Sometimes I felt really depressed, but I kept telling myself: ‘You need to get out, you need to keep on moving.’ I thought of my girlfriend, my parents, my brothers, my friends. I thought about going back to law school. That kept me going.”
Now Mr Levi wants to raise awareness of the charity, having been helped by the Beit Halochem centre in Tel Aviv — one of four across the country.
He uses the centre’s swimming and gym every day but still feels the impact of his injuries.
“They had to take out half of my stomach, so I have digestive problems. I still have two shrapnel pieces in my lungs because it’s too dangerous to take them out. So I sometimes have breathing problems.
“I shattered my shoulder, so I can’t move my arm too high. I broke two bones in my lower back, so I can’t bend over.
“I had all my physical therapy in Beit Halochem. I was helped by people who went through what I did. Now I help people in a similar state. It’s a circle.”
Set to marry his fiancé this year, Mr Levi does not regret his time in the army. “For me the IDF is not about attacking other people, it’s about defending Israel.
“Sometimes people ask me if it’s mandatory to go into the army. I tell them it’s a privilege.”
Dinner chair Orly Wolfson said: “In many ways, Beit Halochem is Israel’s answer to Help for Heroes in the UK.
“Sadly the need for Beit Halochem is as pressing today as it was 42 years ago [post-Yom Kippur War]. Last year alone, over 500 new soldiers were added to the list we care for. In fact, there are now 51,000 wounded men and women who benefit from Beit Halochem’s wonderful work.”
Professor Peter Neumann of King’s College war studies department spoke about the radicalisation of Daesh terrorists across the globe.