IDF commander: Golani is the people's brigade

The Israeli military is prepared for the Palestinians' expected declaration of statehood at the U.N. General Assembly this coming September, the commander of the highly respected Golani Brigade, Col. Ofek Buchris, told Israel Hayom on Saturday in an interview marking the Israel Defense Forces’ August 2011 draft.

“No one knows what exactly will happen in September, but we are ready professionally, mentally, and ideologically,” Buchris said.

Due to intense demand for its coveted slots, the Golani Brigade opens its draft first each year. “We have been the first to draft soldiers for years now because of the great demand to join the brigade, and the Bakum [the IDF's induction center outside Tel Aviv] wants to prevent a situation in which recruits refuse to leave unless they are drafted into Golani,” Buchris said. He said the numbers of those wanting to join the brigade continued to rise each year, and more than five soldiers competed to fill each available place.

“Golani carries a message of fighters, of family, of sticking to the mission,” Buchris said. “It is not an elitist brigade, but one that promotes equality. There is something in the genetic code of the brigade that is passed on from generation to generation, and it is hard to explain.”

During his interview, Buchris spoke publicly for the first time about an incident at a graduation ceremony last month in which four soldiers from Golani’s Battalion 13 were sentenced to military prison for wearing T-shirts with slogans protesting the use of soldiers to expel Jews from their homes in the West Bank.

“The soldiers acted foolishly,” Buchris said. “It wasn't an issue of rebellion -- there was no refusal of a direct order. It is silly to give that act a political context. The amount of coverage that dumb act got was totally disproportionate.”

Since being tapped as Golani commander one year ago, Buchris has led his brigade through a number of significant events, including this year's Nakba and Naksa days, during which Palestinians mourn the establishment of Israel and the plight of their refugees. Golani soldiers currently operate in the region bordering Gaza, on the forefront of the IDF's most active line of defense.

"Today's Golani Brigade is very different from the Golani of the past," Buchris said. “Today, the brigade is much more organized. It used to have a reputation of being disorganized. The perception was that we were filled with the weaker echelons of society. Today there is tremendous demand to join us and the quality of those who join is much better.”

In another evolution for the brigade, the number of religious soldiers who join is increasing, especially among the higher ranks. “We are the people's brigade, and it doesn't matter to me what the soldier is wearing under his helmet,” he said, referring to the skullcaps worn by religious men. Buchris, who studied in a yeshiva himself, added: “What matters to me is only that they are good soldiers.”

　

　

　

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