A number of weeks ago, soldiers of the elite Sayeret Egoz unit were taken to visit a slaughterhouse as a step towards better preparing them for future warfare. Commanders feel that a close-up look at the slaughter of animals, the smells, a view of their internal organs, would better prepare the trainees for anything that might await them in the battlefield.

Commanders are hopeful that the visit, which was most unpleasant, would prepare them in someway for the traumas of battle and the possibility they may one day have to tend to their wounded fellow combatants.

The idea came from an officer of the rank of captain, who was cited for excellence in the Second Lebanon War. He explains that he saw some very difficult sights and thought of the idea to hopefully prevent the same level of trauma he endured among other soldiers. After the war, he was placed in charge of training for the elite combat unit.

Some of the captain’s superior officers were in favor of the idea, while others thought it was a poor move at best, explaining soldiers were unnecessarily being exposed to most unpleasant and possibly traumatic sights in a slaughterhouse. The Office of the IDF Spokesman released a statement that the idea was implemented by the training officers of Sayeret Egoz but now, the division commander has decided against continuing the practice.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)