Naomi Ragen

I had a lecture to give in Haifa the other day. My usual driver wasn't available, so I called a local cab company to arrange a ride. Call it instinct, but when the cab arrived and I looked at the driver, he just didn't look the part. For one thing, he was in amazing shape: handsome, young, with an athlete's lean body. Not what I usually find in the men who sit behind the wheel all day. Something about his face, the way he spoke, too, struck me as unusual.

"It's a long ride to Haifa," I finally said. "How do you like being on the road so much?"

"Oh, it's fine. I like driving. Actually, I haven't been in the business long. Just a few months," he said smiling.

"And before this....?"

"I worked for the Ministry of Defense. I was a security guard."

We spoke a little more, and I began to realize that I was in the presence of one of the men from those elite units who protect the lives of our most elite citizens, including our former Prime Minister.

"You didn't like the work?"

"No, actually....."

This is what happened. A yeshiva graduate, he had served in the army's most elite units. He had been trained in advanced counter-terrorism techniques, and had been asked to lead men into battle in some of the most dangerous missions possible. He had spent 3.5 years in Lebanon. It was no wonder that the leaders of the country had put him on staff to protect their lives.

And then came the disengagement. They asked him to be responsible for leading soldiers to attack the residents of Gush Katif should trouble ensue. He knew Gush Katif well. He had been stationed there.

"The people there treated us so well," he said. "They made sure we had enough to eat and drink. They invited us over on Shabbat and holidays. They were the most wonderful people in the world. How could I now go into their communities and treat them like enemies? How?"

So, he walked into Sharon's office (which should give you an idea of who this person is, and what kind of job he had). I said: "I'll do anything you want. If you want me to wipe out a terrorist cell. Fine. That's what I'm trained to do. But please don't ask me to do this. Please."

Sharon didn't budge. Wasn't interested.

He also didn't budge. Despite the years he had spent risking his life to defend his country, and the people who run it, he was not only fired, he was thrown into jail for more than a month! When he got out, he married his girlfriend. He wasn't worried about getting another job. "The security companies were lining up to hire me. But when I went to get a weapon's license, I found I'd been blackballed. It was pure revenge. So it was impossible for me to work."

He bought a taxi, and now he drives. His wife is expecting. He's not making anywhere near what he used to make.

You've paid quite a price, I told him.

"I'm not sorry for a minute. I got my medal when my father told me he was proud of me. In the end, I have to live with myself. I have to face my little nephews. What would they think of me if I treated my own people like the enemy?" Instead, he went to visit the people of Gush Katif, in their hotel rooms and dormitories. He hugged them, and they hugged him. "I don't have a single regret," he shrugged.

He has a court case against the government for denying him a license. I wished him well. And I thought of the men in power, those complacent, graying old men whose lives he had risked his young one for so many times. And I was glad he wasn't protecting them anymore. Glad that he wasn't being sent on dangerous missions anymore. Not for these men anyhow. And I thought of what he had sown, and what he had reaped. And how much we were all losing because he couldn't use his skills.

And once again, the reality of living in a country with wonderful people and terrible leadership struck me full force.

Naomi Ragen is a novelist/essayist living in Jerusalem. Her newest novel is The Covenant, about a family’s encounter with terrorism.