'My first war'

Saturday, July 12, was the second anniversary of the Second Lebanon War. The weekend JPost included an article about Yariv Moser, an IDF officer who took something a little unusual off to war with him: A video camera. Moser has made a documentary movie which was released here in Israel in April. Unfortunately, it's gotten too little attention.

Generally, a feeling of disorganization and bedlam worsens as the war progresses. Rockets fall, tanks are destroyed with sophisticated anti-tank missiles, more and more soldiers are killed and the atmosphere is one of defeat and senselessness. Orders are given and then retracted. "Somebody sent soldiers to die," says the bleary-eyed Capt. Reuven Sa'adon to Mozer as he drives back from Lebanon in an armored Humvee. "That is the clearest thing I can say."

The 'most controversial element' in the documentary is not one I have seen. But it's one that is frightening for the IDF's future on a lot of levels.

But perhaps the most controversial element in the documentary is when the hero, ruggedly handsome Lt.-Col. Ilan Levy (whom Mozer refers to as an Israeli Sean Penn and is the elder brother of a former Miss Israel, Ilanit Levy) tells a group of fellow officers after the cease-fire about his choice not to take a patrol into Lebanon.

Levy describes his reasons to fellow officers, who have been discussing the failures of the war - from Armored Corps soldiers abandoning their tanks to leaders who lacked confidence. "I was at the gate with an armored personnel carrier, with 11 soldiers and three officers, after a briefing on entering Lebanon, after everything, and they told me, 'Go,'" Levy says. "I decided at that point, in terms of the need that existed at that moment and the risk that existed, that I wasn't taking them in, and I informed the division's chief of staff who was standing next to me: 'I'm not taking them in.'

"In my understanding, the way things were prepared, in that constellation of things, the risk exceeded the benefit. I didn't get it from anyone in an organized fashion. And by the way, the convoy that did enter was almost all burned up. And I made the decision, not anyone else."

A hailstorm of criticism focused on the praise that Levy has gotten for saving his soldiers' lives by disobeying a direct order. "He didn't defy a direct order," says Mozer, whose shaved head accentuates his large, brown eyes. "He decided to complete the mission in a different way, and in so doing he saved the lives of his soldiers. I could have met him after the war in front of coffins," he says vehemently, taking a moment to regain his composure.

There were much longer write-ups of the movie in the Washington Post and in Haaretz three months ago. Here are more details of the Levy incident from the Haaretz article:

From the start of the war, the artillery corps operated from within Israel. Ahead of the operation that took place during the final 48 hours of the war, it was decided to send artillery units into Lebanon to provide cover for the advancing forces. Levy's regular battalion was chosen to be the first artillery battalion to enter.

"I was at the gate," Levy says, describing the decisive moment when he decided not to take his soldiers in, "with an armored personnel carrier, with 11 soldiers and three officers, after a briefing on entering Lebanon, after everything, and they told me, 'Go.' I decided at that point, in terms of the need that existed at that moment and the risk that existed, that I wasn't taking them in, and I informed the division head of staff who was standing next to me: 'I'm not taking them in.' Because in my understanding, the way things were prepared, in that constellation of things, the risk exceeded the benefit. I didn't get it from anyone in an organized fashion. And by the way, the convoy that did enter was almost all burned up. And I made the decision, not anyone else."

Recall that the final 48 hours of the war was when Olmert sent the IDF to reach the Litani River - after the 'cease fire' had been signed - so that he could pretend that the war accomplished something and then the troops who were left alive could turn around and come back.

The Washington Post says that the movie was to be televised in Israel in conjunction with the second anniversary of the war - I have no idea whether it was or not. I have a video of the trailer for you. Let's go to the videotape and then we'll talk.