Joining the IDF as a lone soldier

Hillary Marcus has always had strong ties to Israel, both personal and familial, but it wasn’t until 2009 — when Israel went to war in Gaza — that those ties became what she now calls a connection. Her three-week visit to Israel, in December, 2008 and January, 2009, coincided — literally to the day — with the military operation the Israelis called Operation Cast Lead, a response to Palestinian rocket attacks. Although she had been to Israel before, and in another time of danger and unrest, during the second intifada in 2002, Marcus says that her second trip was the one that made a lasting impression. “Being there, specifically at the time while that was happening, and being a part of it, is what gave […]