RUTHFULLY YOURS

War legend Amatzia Chen, who is mostly known as Patzi, gave a weekend interview to Maariv marking the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Chen, who is considered to be one of the IDF officers who killed the most enemy soldiers in his career, said that famed “peaceniks” like writer Amos Oz were actually responsible for more bloodshed that he.

Naming three of the most prominent writers in the “peace camp,” he said: “If A.B. Yehoshua, David Grossman and Amos Oz were to raise the flag of security instead of their hokum about peace, there would be a different world here. Opinion shapers on their level do not realize that this baloney of ‘peace’, ‘peace’ does not happen on its own, and certainly not with enemies.

“They will reach peace only when the threat of war overpowers it. I told Amos Oz, ‘I am considered to be a IDF officer with numerous kills, maybe the biggest killer of them all, and I am telling you that the amount of blood that was shed as a result of my fire is nothing compared to the amount of blood that was shed following your writing.”

“Amos Oz did not preach war, but the weakness that is caused as a result of writing in which the hand is stretched out only to peace, is what brought about the unbearable boiling over between us and the Palestinians. I, with a Kalachnikov [assault rifle], created 15 years of quiet in Gaza. The residents there did not turn into lovers of Israel, but they understood the need to act in accordance with the laws that were established. Legal and humanistic [laws].”

Chen opposed the Oslo Accords, saying that the IDF would not be able to enforce them if they were broken by the other side. History proved him right, he says: 1,400 Israelis were killed and the IDF was unable to prevent this.

Chen was also a part of the elite Sayeret Shaked force in the Yom Kippur War, and was a witness to the grievous injuries sustained by Yaakov Katz (“Ketzaleh”), who later went on to become a Knesset Member.

“Ketzaleh was cut in half, dying,” Patzi recalled. “We, like idiots, took shirts and pushed them into his body so that the blood would stop. I called the division and said ‘bring us a helicopter.’”

“The deputy commander of the division said ‘You are close to the [Suez] Canal, there is no chance that the Air Force will go there. It was clear that I was saying goodbye to Ketzaleh. I had walked four steps away from the jeep when Arik [Sharon] called. ‘In five minutes you’ll have a helicopter.’ I walked over to Ketzaleh and said, ‘Be’ezrat Hashem [with G-d’s help] you’ll be saved.’ With the remainder of his strength he said, ‘If I heard you say ‘be’ezrat hashem,’ it was good that I was wounded.’”