My parents made aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel) from Morocco in the 1970s. After a period in a transit camp in Israel, they moved to Jerusalem where I was born and raised.

Politics was not discussed at home. My political awareness came from my time in the scouts movement and during my national service year — a period characterized by trying to explore and understand what I was going to do in the army. It was clear to me that until this point I had been protected, and now it was my turn to go and protect my homeland I love so much - completely and fearlessly.

After a year of national service and combat training, I enlisted into the Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance platoon and served in Gaza and the South Hebron hills (West Bank). As a youth in Gaza, my view of the situation was simple, there was a clear line: here are the good guys, there are the bad guys; but in the South Hebron Hills, the dichotomy wasn’t quite as clear and the daily interaction with civilians caused my perspective to crumble. My encounters with arrests, stopping Palestinians that don’t have permits, suppressing demonstrations, conducting searches, denying access to medical assistance and passage through checkpoints— these experiences came with the feeling that both my commander and the Israeli politicians were doing nothing to change the reality so that my friends and I would not have to go out for the next arrest. Everyone just accepted this reality as if it were predestined. As a result, my confidence and faith in my actions began to crumble. From day to day, from action to action, I felt like “protecting the country” meant betraying the principles on which I was raised and educated, in that same exact country.

While I was still a combatant, I decided that on the weekend I wanted to meet the Palestinians who, during the week, were subject to my military rule — but to go not in uniform and without a weapon; so they wouldn’t know I’m a soldier; so that I could ask them about their story, and they could hear mine. Following an email I received, I had the chance to have that conversation with the residents of Susiya (a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills), and later with other Palestinians in the West Bank.

For the first time after 2.5 years of combatant service, I felt that I had found the most effective way to fulfill my wish to contribute to my country — by listening and honestly implementing the concept of “Love Thy Neighbour”. I felt that the meeting, the conversation, and the joint activity was effective and promoted peace much more than all the operational activities I had been part of during my service. I found my way to fight for a more democratic, fairer, safer, and more beautiful country.

In Combatants for Peace I found Palestinian partners who want security and peace for us and our children, just as I do. Those who were once enemies, in an instant became partners and a second family. From that moment on I promised myself that the same time, energy, and resources I had put into the army service I would now invest in an attempt to make peace.