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May 25, 2000
The proud retreat
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN
At about a quarter to seven yesterday morning, Brig.- Gen.
Benny Ganz locked the Fatma crossing gate and suddenly found
himself out of a job.
As commander of the IDF Liaison Unit to southern Lebanon,
which was responsible for the eastern sector of the security
zone and the South Lebanese Army, Ganz was given the symbolic
final honor, captured by photographers and transmitted around
the world.
The dramatic swift withdrawal of the IDF from Lebanon found
soldiers jubilant not humiliated - in their retreat.
Convoys of armored vehicles escorted by Merkava tanks started
trickling through the border crossings around 3:00 a.m., ending
a nightlong ride from the IDF outposts.
By dawn, the complicated pullback was complete, the artillery
which had been giving cover fire to the retreating force fell
silent, and the warplanes which had bombed the vacated IDF
and SLA outposts finished their mission.
'We are the last. The last! We got out,' said one soldier
atop an armored personnel carrier.
Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz said the withdrawal
- dubbed Orech Ruach ('Stamina') - had been meticulously planned
for severalmonths.
He and everyone else in the IDF were relieved that no soldier
was even scratched in the pullout, which was accompanied by
Hizbullah fire.
'I'm happy it was carried out without one injury. We were
really anxious about this,' said Ganz. 'I've been in and out
of Lebanon since the [1978] Litani invasion. It was a very
strange feeling now. I guess I'm unemployed,' the former commander
of the paratrooper brigade joked.
At the Adi outpost just above Tel Hai, Mofaz met yesterday
afternoon with members of the Golani 12th battalion which
had been stationed in Taibeh, Galgalit, and Shani. Morale
was high and the euphoric Golani soldiers sang their military
ditties.
They were showered and in dress uniforms, a far cry from
the dust-covered soldiers in full battle gear who crossed
the border before dawn.
'I cried the whole way because I was so moved by the situation.
Every one of us looked death in the eyes and none of us wanted
to die. I never told my parents about it so they wouldn't
worry,' said St.-Sgt. Gilad Hadad.
At a tank depot near the border, Sec.-Lt. Omer Maor said
he did not feel the retreat from Lebanon was a sign of defeat.
'We never got out with our tails between our legs. I am proud
that I am in this army.
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