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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-768965
Israeli Civilians Heroically Fought Against Hamas
(Jerusalem Post) Gil Troy - Story by story, post by post, and article by article, an extraordinary picture of against-all-odds heroism on October 7 is emerging. Citizens, police officers, and soldiers, at home and on base, scrambled, improvised, and fought back fiercely. These citizen commandos not only saved countless lives: These Israelis saved Israel. Ben Mizrachi, 22, moved to Israel from Vancouver five years ago. He finished his IDF service as a combat medic. When Hamas terrorists swarmed the Supernova music festival, Ben's training - and courage - clicked in. He and his buddy reached their car, but they did not flee. They ferried people to safety - two, possibly three times. He started treating the wounded. And then he was murdered. Ben's story and the thousands of other stories about fighting back that day returned Israel to its Zionist trajectory. October 7 became another chapter in the Zionist tale about the Jewish redemption of a land surrounded by cruel enemies, and how Israelis have learned to fight when necessary, but live, build, and rejoice always. Some who lived elsewhere simply holstered their guns, jumped in their cars, and drove maniacally down to the area to save their kids, their grandkids, or mere strangers. A police officer, Yisrael Zinger, used Google maps to find a backroad exit when terrorists blocked the two main exits from the Supernova concert. His convoy led 500 concert-goers to safety. He then joined with other officers and soldiers in the firefight of their lives. The writer, a distinguished scholar of North American history at McGill University, is a senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute.