A Memory of a Conversation and the Conclusion

Elie's going to hate that I'm once again sharing his thoughts. When he left the army, in many ways I tried to give him space to go on with his life...and he did. Married and a father of some pretty amazing little girls, he's matured into the man I first began to see in those early days in the army.

He was analytical then; he's analytical now. Tonight, as he is once again in the service of the State of Israel, once again far from home, his daughters cry for him and I know that his amazing wife struggles to handle all the many things she has to do and cover Elie's jobs as well. 

For the most part, I've stepped back, worried and missing him but wanting whatever time he had available to speak on the phone to go to his wife and daughters. Brief conversations here and there but not much else.

Tonight, a month after is started, we had a great conversation. We covered the kids, the community, work and more. He told me that he'd spoken to a team of Fox News reporters who were idly waiting for the next missile attack so they could report. One asked Elie what he thought of CNN and he responded, "My Mommy told me if I can't say anything good, not to say anything at all." Needless to say, the Fox team laughed.

We talked about the war...how could we not. Elie believes the assessment that we're nowhere near done. This isn't stopping any time soon. And we both agreed that this time, Israel has to finally end this endless chain of wars and Hamas' terror reign forever.

I reminded him of that crazy day when I drove down to pick him up, how he insisted on driving home, how he gave away the brownies I'd brought for him to the soldiers remaining behind. Of how I hugged him and then told him he stunk and needed a shower and new clothes. How we drove with the windows down. And how we talked.

One of the first things he said to me was, "Ima, they didn't let us finish." At the time, I wrote, that I never really understood who "they" were. But I agreed then, and Israel agrees now, we can't keep doing these wars every few years and we will never let there be another October 7th.

Tonight Elie said something that lingers in my mind. He said the ones who attacked us so brutally now, are the children of the ones we did not kill in 2008. Instead, they went on with their lives, raising their children to the same hate they had learned. And the inevitable result - violence, terror, death.

Hamas ends now.

Hamas is ISIS.