Who is the commander of the Dovdvan unit named Brigadier General Carmeli – the first source

After two years in which he was in the shadows as the head of the Dovdavan unit, the name Col. is now possible. Find Dvir Diamond who has completed his duties and has become the head of the Carmeli reservation group (2). in the induction letter he sent today (Thursday) to his new soldiers, he referred to the legacy of the brigade and the spirit that guides it in the war

“No one who comes to study and evaluate the events of the war and follows its course will understand the secret of our endurance, unless they stand on the strength and inspiration of the virtues of spirit which have been cultivated for many years : the person who won faith in the strength of the Hebrew warrior, full confidence in not being tempted, the stubbornness of the companions in the Yishvi movement and they were a good driver in our war of independence, and as so Diamond began his letter, quoting Israel Galili about the battles of the Carmeli Brigade in 1978, in the introduction to the book “Northern Systems”. Written by Major General Moshe Carmel, the first Brigadier General of the Carmeli Brigade.

“Especially in these days, days of fighting, it is possible to deeply understand the meaning of the words that Israel Galili wrote at the end of the War of Independence about the fight of our brigade, even in the difficult days that have come to us, the same enthusiasm and intense zeal to protect and defend the country, the home. an ancient spirit that comes from the roots of the glorious heritage of the brigade, in the same words that Galili wrote about the fight of the brigade in 1978, a spirit full of strength, humility and faith in the righteousness of the way. This spirit cannot be seen, it can only be seen, this type of spirit is best described by Haim Nachman Bialik ‘You cannot see the spirit, but it guides the ship, and not those rags that float above above the mast for all to see’. It has been my great honor to be another link in the glorious line of commanders of the Carmeli Brigade, and I am proud to be part of the spirit and heritage of the brigade, together we will continue to nurture and preserve. the spirit of the group. our brigade and ship will reach new objectives, meet the tasks needed to meet and defeat any enemy.”

“Soldiers, commanders and families of the brigade, in this historic moment of the rise of the Israeli population in our country, we are writing an important and important chapter in the history of our country. We have a great responsibility on our shoulders and we understand its meaning and from a sense of mission, we stand with our heads held high and with national pride to carry it Brigadier General.

He lost an eye and the peak is a torch

A year and a half ago, we were elected Diamond To raise a torch in a ceremony on the eve of Independence Day, as the commander of Dovdevan’s unit. “Lt. Col. D. is one of the best sons of this country, an IDF wounded man who recovered and returned to full combat service, and led his soldiers every day and every night into operations or -known and bold, thanks we can. they all sleep peacefully. a torch

Diamond, married and the father of six, grew up in a farming family in the settlement of Shademut-Mhola in the Jordan Valley, studied at Yeshiva Chumash and Bnei David Baali centers, and in 2006 joined the paratrooper army. He walks around with a big cap and long, curly wigs, a rather unusual sight in the military landscape. At the beginning of his regular service, he did not intend to become an officer and did not aim for a military career, but one incident changed the course of his life.

It happened at the end of 2007, in the days after the Second Lebanon War. Diamond was on patrol with several other soldiers near the Lebanese border. At one point, they discovered an attempt to intrude into Israeli territory, near an area where there were many Israeli travelers. Diamond immediately realized that he had to react decisively to avoid disaster. He took control of the incident, led the exchange of fire​​​​ against the terrorists and led the relief forces until the end of the incident. Later he realized, as he said, that this event had a special place for him, and under its influence he decided to go to an officer’s course and continue with the mission to help the people who lived there to protect Zion. On the next day of independence, he received a special medal from the President, because his quick action saved many lives and he was an example and a model.

The military path he chose put a lot of personal pressure on him, among which was the loss of his right eye in Operation Tzuk Eitan in the summer of 2014, when he was a company commander in paratroopers. His soldiers then tried to find the main entrance of the tunnel in the Rafah sector which, two days before, had seen Hamas terrorists leaving the other entrance inside the territory. Israel, near Kibbutz Sufa. Although they were soon found and tried to return to where they came from, the IDF was determined to find and destroy the dangerous tunnel after several futile attempts, on the morning of Saturday, July 19 , the wanted person A tunnel was found. afternoon.

“The ground shook a lot,” Diamond recalled in an interview with Maariv a year later, of the moments when the thunderbolts were activated. “It was quiet after the loud noise, but then came it became clear to us that the explosion changed the situation of the community. The chief, Shahar, called him and said that he recognized a small pit, perhaps a ventilation opening and Dawn tells me that they came to- out another door, inside Khusha, and that they managed to hit Benya Rubel, who was walking near the end of the column.” Diamond personally knew the late Benya Rubel and even his family members “He was funny, funny and loved everyone,” he said in the same interview “At that time you only think about the event. I have other fighters, and they are all like my children. I ordered the warriors to charge at another shanty, because I thought the rebels would look out for him. hiding place there. The area became a fire trap​​​​​​​​​​​​and we went to the shelter while we were shooting and throwing grenades the strong page. I didn’t see anything. I just felt the blood running down my face. My right eye was blurry.” D., who was trying to understand the extent of the injury, asked if he had anything inside, but because of the darkness that had fallen, the communication did not recognize the severity of the injury “I decided not to say anything to the soldiers,” he said.

According to Diamond’s testimony, at this point he did not feel pain, perhaps due to the high level of adrenaline and adherence to the action. He noticed that his hand was bloody and full of shrapnel, and moved his personal weapon to the hilt at his side. Now, with the help of one hand, he hid the injury in the eye with the dome, and with the other hand he gave related instructions and orders.

How do you give operational orders without seeing the area? “I got to know the area from the previous two days and I understood the place we are in,” explained Diamond. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s a mission and it has to be done no matter what. It was only afterwards that I told the Major General that I had been wounded in the eyes, and he asked me the same question.” He was sent to Soroka Hospital only in the wee hours of the morning, when chaos broke out the battle down after killing four terrorists.

Despite the injury, it was clear to Diamond that he would continue in his fighting careers. “For me, it was worth losing an eye for the defense of the country,” he said in the same interview, explaining that “even Moshe Dayan was not refused to be Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense, even though he was not he had only one eye.” He made several changes and even changed his unique shooting method: aiming with the left eye and shooting with the right hand.

After completing a bachelor’s degree in Bible and history at the Hebrew University and going through several staff positions, in 2020 he came full circle when he was appointed as the commander of the 101st battalion paratrooper During Operation Wall Guard, he led his troops to impressive achievements they won the Chief of Staff award for outstanding units. Diamond was appointed commander of Cherry’s unit last August, at the height of Operation Breakwater. At that time, the unit under his leadership carried out dozens of operations, arrests and deep operations in Judea and Samaria, many times in broad daylight and at the risk of their lives. As a result, the Dovdvan unit received the title of champion in November.