Greeted by applause from the audience, soldiers, officers, NCO's and unit representatives on Monday received medals and citations from IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz for their conduct on the battlefield during Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip last summer. Most of the IDF high command was in attendance on Monday as Gantz issued one Medal of Distinguished Service, seven Chief of Staff Citations and three Chief of Staff Medals of Appreciation. The remaining medals and citations will be awarded by regional commanders, division commanders and brigade commanders in the coming weeks. The first to take the stage was Sgt. Maj. (res.) Haim Tamam, 56, who received a Medal of Appreciation. Other recipients included Sgt. Sahar Elbaz, a lone soldier from America who fought with the Rimon unit of the Givati Infrantry Brigade. Elbaz was granted the Chief of Staff Citation for killing four terrorists who had charged his position. "I took it upon myself to protect my friends," Elbaz told Israel Hayom. "I did what was expected of me. I don't feel that I'm a hero." Elbaz's parents and sister were flown to Israel by the Libi Fund to attend the ceremony. The final honoree of the eveneing was Lt. Eitan Fund, 23, who received the Medal of Distinguished Service, the highest medal awarded for Operation Protective Edge. On Aug. 1, Fund led a squad of four soldiers and officers into an underground terror tunnel in Gaza in an effort to find the late Lt. Hadar Goldin after he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists. Armed only with a sidearm and without a flak jacket, Fund was able to retrieve evidence confirming Goldin's death. Prior to the ceremony, Fund was asked whether he knew his actions would result in receiving a medal, to which he replied: "I wasn't interested in that and that's not what interests me now. I didn't think too much. We always train for those situations." According to Fund: "The whole occasion of receiving citations is not for me and it's not for you, it is for all of us. This isn't something that personally belongs only to my unit. It belongs to everyone." Shortly after leaving the stage to an ovation from the audience, Fund took the stage for a second time to give a speech on behalf of all the recipients. "To our sorrow, in the reality we live in, we were forced to answer the call and go off to battle, and if we have to for a second and third time we will do so with heads raised high, with great pride, that we have the privilege of defending the State of Israel with our lives," Fund said. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told the crowd: "The recipients of the medals and citations represent the full beauty of Israel." According to Gantz: "This valor belongs to everyone who took part in the campaign, because they chose to and were willing to take action in the face of the possible dangers.
You are another link in the chain of valor in the modern era, a chain comprised of generations of brave warriors, who took their fates into their hands, rose to meet the enemy, and emerged victorious."
