http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=2495
After fighting for his life for three days, Sgt. Yehonatan Ben-Yishai died on Thursday in Haifa’s Rambam Hospital. The 20-year-old soldier in the Golani Brigade sustained critical injuries when he was run over by a Merkava tank during a military exercise. An investigation of the incident was immediately launched by the Israel Defense Forces, but it will take a while before all the facts are in. Still, initial reports indicate that the tragic accident occurred while Ben-Yishai and two other soldiers in his unit were lying on the ground – where, it seems, they had fallen asleep. The driver of the tank, who was backing up the vehicle, was unable to see his comrades-in-arms, and inadvertently drove over Ben-Yishai’s torso. Miraculously, the other two boys emerged unscathed.
It goes without saying that everyone in this country feels for Ben-Yishai’s grieving parents. Less talked about, but equally obvious, is the sense that the driver of the tank must be in the kind of pain that few of us can imagine.
Unwittingly crushing another human being is certain to have life-long emotional repercussions – no matter what the investigation reveals, and regardless of who or what is determined to be at fault.
