A recording featuring the voice of Lt. Col Emmanuel Moreno, an Israeli commando from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit who was killed in the 2006 Second Lebanon War and whose picture and mission still remain classified, was played in public on Monday, for the first time since his death.
The recording, which was made when Moreno was promoted in 2005, was heard during a memorial event for the late fighter, with his voice slightly altered to shield his identity. The celebrated soldier is an icon to Israelis despite the 12-year and continuing prohibition preventing his image from being published.
In the recording, Moreno is heard talking about the then-fresh disengagement of Israel from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.
He can be heard telling an audience that despite the traumatic effect the withdrawal might have on Israeli society, it would end up making Israel stronger.
"There are three ways one can deal with a crisis: one, fall into despair – but that is not our way, not at all," he says.
"The second two options are about optimism: You can look toward the light, the good after the bad, all but ignoring the latter, what people refer to as 'looking at the glass half full.'
"But there is an even better way," Moreno says, before urging his audience to take an example from the famous Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva.
"He had a method: using bad adverse events to become stronger. At times of crisis, a person displays strengths that were never apparent before," Moreno says.
In the recording, he also thanks his parents and the director of Military Intelligence, as well as his wife, whom he calls "my other half, whose love for me is infinite."
