Decision moments: What makes a leader

Explosions, gunfire, the sounds of battle, lashab (lechima be’shetach banui) urban warfare. No place to hide, nowhere to run, no time to think. 

The army teaches many things; one of the most valuable is the ability to make decisions of life or death in seconds. Such was the moment Lt. Eitan (full name withheld for security purposes) of the elite recon unit of the Givati Infantry Brigade found himself in last summer in Gaza. 

The point reconnaissance squad (Palsar Givati), led by Company Commander Benayah Sarel, had just located the entrance to a Hamas tunnel, on the edge of Rafiach in the Gaza strip. Almost immediately the men came under heavy fire from Hamas terrorists. In the ensuing battle, company Commander Sarel and first sergeant Liel Gidoni were killed. Arriving at the scene amidst heavy fighting, Eitan quickly ascertained that Lt. Hadar Goldin was missing.

Under fire, despite clear orders to the contrary, Eitan made a field decision to enter the tunnel with his command squad and give chase to the terrorists, in the hopes of preventing what he thought might be the kidnapping of a fellow IDF officer. 

Without a clear picture of how many terrorists were in the tunnel, and no intel on whether the tunnel might be booby trapped, Eitan followed the terrorists for hundreds of yards deep into the tunnel, retrieving evidence of Lt. Goldin’s remains that mercifully would allow the IDF chief rabbinate to declare him dead and saving his family and nation enormous heartache. 

The IDF’s subsequent inquiry would later find Eitan’s bravery and heroism worthy of the highest commendation a combat officer can receive, parallel to the medal of valor. 

In addition to all this, the subsequent discovery of a dead Hamas terrorist (killed in the firefight) in full IDF uniform, made it clear that this Hamas unit was about to use the tunnel to enter Israel dressed as Israeli soldiers, a potential disaster prevented at the last moment.