Wartime romance

January 23, 2009 - 8:32 AM by Jessica

wartime_romance001002 Another ‘I know the war is over, but’ story. It comes by way of my niece, Elisheva, 20, who was in her last two weeks of her army service in the IDF spokesperson’s unit when the action in Gaza began. It was more than ironic for her, considering that Elisheva hadn’t loved the unit, despite its being one of the more prestigious postings in the army. She was, like all Israeli kids who are nearing the end of their service, very anxious to be done already, and has all her plans for post-army. But when the war began, she was one of the more senior soldiers in her particular area of the unit and they immediately took her down south, to a situation room just outside Gaza.

She couldn’t tell us where she was posted, and her cellphone usage was limited. But the reports via my sister were that she was having a great time, in the way that one does in a heightened, intense situation. For one, it was the most exciting period she’d ever experienced in the army, given the amount of work and responsibility that she had during this period. The other reason had to do with who she met, namely, a guy. He is another soldier who is no longer in a combat unit because of an injury he sustained earlier in his service. Now he’s a driver for one of the colonels who runs the spokesperson’s unit and was in close contact with our Elisheva. How close? TMI. Don’t want to know. What I do know is that being in such close quarters — they slept for four hours a day and in cars, because this wasn’t a proper base — for three weeks threw Elisheva and her new beau into the kind of romantic situation that she’d only previously experienced in summer camp. And camp is a lot different than a war situation in the Gaza Strip.

We’ve been warning her not to expect too much of the relationship now that the war is over and they’re both back in their regular bases. But you never know. And in this country, it’s de rigeur to meet your beloved in the army.

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