By Jerry Klinger
BOYNTON BEACH, Florida — It began with a simple question to Sam Philipe, an Israeli sculptor frequently commissioned by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP). Is there a memorial for the women of the IDF in Israel?
For the past few months, it has been chilling to see the pictures and read the stories of the genocidal October 7 massacre of Jews by Hamas and Gazan murderers. It did not matter to them, in their killing and raping frenzies, if the victims were Jewish or not; death was their objective.
Amidst the stories, slowly, there emerged other stories of incredible heroism, courage, and resistance to the Hamas-led genocide. What was atypical, or so one would have thought, was that many of the stories were about women.
Hours before Israel’s army could be dragged from its lethargic shock to respond, women manning tanks were in the midst of the fight defending Israel. Armed women fought alongside men in fields, in houses, everywhere, saving lives from Hamas and the Gazans.
The early warning system, the vaunted electronic surveillance fence, with electronic perimeter TV monitoring in command centers along the Gaza fence, reinforced by young IDF women’s eyes, were the first targets of Hamas.
Hamas surged to the command centers, killing the “Watchers,” the Tatzpaniot. The Tatzpaniot were regarded in the Israeli army with much disdain, unimportant, the bottom of the totem pole of intelligence gatherers. Most were unarmed. Yet these women had seen for weeks the strange goings on, the seeming practice demonstrations of a breakout conducted by Hamas. They knew something was wrong and constantly reported what they saw up the chain of command, only to be told it was nothing.
It was something. The Tatzpitaniyot saw it. They knew but stayed at their duty stations until death saw them. Some of the women, the female officers of each unit with weapons, rushed to defend, and many were killed along with many of the unarmed women soldiers.
I wondered, where will their memorial be?
Hadassah Magazine wrote about the Women fighters that terrible day, “Most of the women who answered the call of duty that dark day will never be known. And even those who are—a soldier from Modi’in, a medic from Ramat Beit Shemesh, a midwife from Alumim, to name just a few—will not get a medal or a mural for their courage. But many in Israel owe them their lives.”
Women have always been vital to the IDF and the State of Israel; from the beginning.
Much honor is given, deservedly, to Joseph Trumpeldor and the defenders of Tel-Chai when they faced more than ten-to-one odds against local Arabs to the end. Few know that one of the fallen was a woman, …Dvorah Drechler
Dr .Eldad Haouvi, director of the Palmach archives, said that during the War of Independence, “Women were combat soldiers and combat medics who went into battle with the men.”
“Where is their memorial?” I asked Sam. He said there is none in Israel. “We have to do what is right. We have to build one, I said.
Sam knew I was right. Sam did correct something. We will build a Tribute to the Women of the IDF, not a Memorial.”
Sam knows me. He knows I will not fund anything that needs a docent to tell me what I am looking at. It must be something that can be understood easily.
A few days later, after further discussion, Sam came up with a concept sketch showing two women soldiers in full battle uniforms. One represented 1948, and the other 2024. They stood shoulder to shoulder, their weapons aimed downward, not up in aggression but down in defense, at the ready.
The idea, the concept, was ready to move to the hardest part, finding an appropriate, public, accessible location, a city that would want the Women of the IDF sculpture and will work with us in its placement.
It seems simple, a no-brainer.
Long experience dealing with Israel and placing interpretive sculptures of overdue memory and honor has always been a fight.
So far, Sam and I have approached five cities, government, and non-governmental organizations and agencies – nothing. I reached out to the former President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, with no response.
Everyone who has been presented with the idea understands it and why it is so important. But…understanding and getting movement through layers of bureaucratic opaqueness is something else.
Perhaps a better operative word(s) is a pain in the butt moves things in the Middle East. Sam and I have become big pains in the butt.
Today, I was told that it is very possible we may succeed with the key site for the Women of the IDF tribute within the next two or three weeks.
Never count your chickens.
We will continue pushing, even if given a preliminary from a city, they want it. We will continue to seek alternatives. Things can go wrong, suddenly, like October 7.
We, and any allies we can enlist along the way, will continue to push until the day of its much-sought dedication.
*
Jerry Klinger is the President of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.