Ori Megidish Rescued From Hamas By Shin Bet and IDF

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

     Captured October 7, 2023, rescued on 24th day of war,  October 30, 2023 was Ori Megidish.  Or means light, and it's wonderful that she's now again with her family, the light of this family.  

Yesterday, Israeli forces rescued Private Ori Megidish, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7 terror attack. Megidish was reunited with her family and appears to be in good health. No soldiers were injured in the rescue operation. Earlier, Hamas released a video showing three female hostages, in which one of them criticizes Prime Minister Netanyahu. The hostages clearly spoke under great duress. There are still 239 hostages in Gaza.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus is the International Spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces, responsible for the IDF’s international traditional and social media operations, public affairs and public diplomacy.  In over 20 years of military service, Lt. Col. Conricus has held a diverse array of positions in infantry, international relations and military diplomacy. Prior to being appointed as the IDF’s International Spokesperson, Lt. Col. Conricus was the first IDF officer to be seconded to the United Nations, serving in the UN Peacekeeping Operations’ Office of Military Affairs in New York.

 IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday about it.   “Ori was actively rescued” with “boots on the ground” in a joint operation between the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) which is also known as Shin Bet, Conricus said.   “Based on intelligence” the Israeli special forces went into northern Gaza knowing her whereabouts and rescued her.“It indeed was a special operation that was targeted in specifically getting her out,” he said.

Israel is one of only a few countries where military service is compulsory for all able-bodied female citizens. Under Israeli conscription laws, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may draft recruits from three communities: the Jews, the Druze, and the Circassians. As the latter two communities are less populous, their women are not required to serve. Women from the Jewish majority are not exempted from the conscription laws, but serve for slightly shorter terms than male conscripts.

                  Israeli women make great instructors.  

According to Israeli military statistics, 535 female soldiers had been killed while serving between the years of 1962 and 2016. The IDF's regulated integration of women is rooted in the days of the Yishuv, when Jewish women served in the ranks of various Zionist paramilitaries during the 1947–1949 Palestine War. In 1999–2000, an amendment was made to the Women's Equal Rights Law of Israel by which men and women became fully equalized — although separately — in the Israeli military apparatus.

     Israel's women watching over all.  The mandated military service requirement for Jewish-Israeli women is 24 months, apart from specified roles that instead require a service length of 30 months. Women may be exempted from military service for reasons of religious conscience, marriage, pregnancy, or motherhood.

"Israel Security Agency, known as Shin Bet (Shabak)  duties are safeguarding state security, exposing terrorist rings, interrogating terror suspects, providing intelligence for counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, counter-espionage, personal protection of senior public officials, securing important infrastructure and government buildings, and safeguarding Israeli airlines and overseas embassies."

 That's a tall order for such a tiny country whose population is about 9 million now that includes 20% Arabs and the main body, Jews.  It's the onlyJewish country in the world, a reservation for a people in their ancient landthey waited over 2,000 years to regain. 

Resource:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/middleeast/idf-ori-megidish-rescue-hamas-hostage-intl-hnk/index.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_Israel_Defense_Forces