Swords of iron stories
The story of Yigal Zinger
Yigal Zinger is 43 years old. He is married and a father of four. They live in Beer Sheva.
He was a fighter in the Police as part of the Negev Military District. He was on duty as a Police officer on the night of the NOVA Festival in Re’im. “At 6:30 am missiles were flying from Gaza and we closed the festival. The Police tried to get closer to the festival, but it was blocked. People were approaching the Police officers with gunshot wounds, and told that terrorists ambushed them”. After checking his phone, Yigal realized there were terrorists coming towards them, so he instructed the officers and those nearby to follow him to Netivot. There, in Netivot, at the Police station he searched for protective gear for 16 people but only found one double clip for one person.
We drove back to Re’im. There was a terrorist ambush – they fired an anti-tank missile at Yigal’s vehicle but luckily missed them by a few centimeters. Their vehicle was not an armored vehicle so Yigal and the other police officers got out of the vehicle and started shooting back at the terrorists. The Yoav Unit of the Police force came with an armored vehicle and they all proceeded together to the Re’im parking lot. Before they reached the parking lot, at the Re’im junction, they faced massive fire from the terrorists. The steering system of the armored vehicle was impacted so all of the Police officers began fighting against hundreds of terrorists, who were attacking the officers from all directions.
Yigal was wounded in both legs. A bullet went through both of his legs. He was eventually evacuated to Soroka Hospital. His bracelet indicated that he was triaged at 11:30 and that he was the 209th wounded person to arrive that day.
“I knew of Beit Halochem from others who had been there. I was impressed by the beautiful, professional place”. Yigal has been attending Beit Halochem three times per week. Slowly he is improving.
