Israeli Police: Unsung Heroes of October 7th
It was 6:28 a.m., the sky was a beautiful bright blue and Roy Vindman was leaving for Barcelona for vacation with his family. Roy Vindman is a police commander of the Southern District of Israel, which has five total police stations: Kiryat Moshe, Kiryat Gat, Sderot, Ashkelon and Ashdod. Vindman did not end up taking a vacation that day. Instead, he spent over 50 hours fighting to keep our country and our people safe.
On Jan. 27, Yeshiva University was privileged to hear from Vindman and the story about how he and his fellow officers bravely defended Israel on Oct. 7. Vindman recounted that just as he was ready to leave for his family vacation, he heard the blaring of the azakot [sirens] cut through the sky. At 6:29 a.m., he realized something was wrong, watching as “the sky was turning black from all of the missiles.” Vindman, without hesitation, strapped on his pistol and ran south.
Vindman explained that in 1953, Ben Gurion established Israel’s four defense elements: deterrence effect, alertness ability, delaying measures and response. Deterrence effect is the ability to scare the enemy by showing Israel’s capabilities in air, land and sea. Alertness ability is to have foresight into the enemies’ whereabouts and plans through intelligence. Delaying measures are troops, army bases and bombs set to keep the enemy from advancing into Israel. Lastly, the response element is to consistently have strong and swift responses to enemy uprisings, so terrorists will think twice before attacking. On Oct. 7, all four of Israel's defense elements failed.
On the morning of Oct. 7, Vindman got a call from an army commander north of Gaza who told him, “Good luck. You have to defend the country because we don't have the means.” In Israel, the police are meant to protect citizens from crime and terror on small scales. They are not equipped to handle mass terror attacks — that is the job of the IDF. However, that did not deter the police of the Southern District, and for the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Israeli Police not only joined in the war effort, but fought on the front lines.
There is a special, emergency automation procedure in the Israeli police force called “Parash Paleshet.” Parash Paleshet immediately calls for blockades of policemen across the Southern District, but this procedure is only meant to stop 30 people, not the 4,000 Hamas terrorists that were trying to rampage, rape and massacre their way through Israel from the air, land and sea. However, this did not deter the officers of the Southern District. Vindman told the audience that most of his officers jumped out of their bed, still in their pajamas, and ran to defend Israel. Most of the officers only had a pistol on them, since the larger guns are kept at the station. They fought for over 17 hours.
On Oct. 7, Israel lost 61 police officers in battle. These men and women gave their lives, without hesitation, to keep Israel safe. Vindman showed the audience a map that they found on a Hamas terrorist which marked their ultimate goal. Hamas wanted to get to Haifa and Jerusalem, but they did not. Vindman and his fellow officers stopped Hamas from completely invading Israel.
Yeshiva University is not the first place that Vindman has visited in America to share his story. He has been all over the country visiting many different communities, Jewish and secular. Recently, he gave a defensive conference in Georgia, and at the end of the conference he declared, “Am Yisrael Chai.” He proudly declared this even though the majority of the people in that room were not Jewish because he is proud to be a commander for the Israeli police force. He is proud to be an Israeli, and he is proud to be a Jew. No one says it better than Vindman himself, “We're a young state but strong in mind.”
Towards the end of his speech Vindman said, “I don't feel that it’s a success. We did our job. I think forward, how we can do better for the Jewish people, for Israel as a defender of the Jewish people. This time we had an army and a police to defend us. In the times of the Holocaust we didn't have an army or police to defend them.” He continued, “We talk a lot about terrorism. We are fighting for our Torah.”
Photo Caption: Israeli Police
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
