night they attacked the Egyptians, and also in the second and third nights. They beat the Egyptians by Isdud and left behind a few dozen dead.
After all that, the soldier thinks, they must be the founders of the state. The real founders. The politicians didn’t help then. A miracle decided the war at that time. This miracle was Mishka and his com-rades. Those that fell and those who survived. Those who came from the factories, from the dance halls, and from the schools, who put on badly fitting uniforms and suddenly looked like soldiers.
No. The posters don’t talk about this miracle. Nor about Mishka. On the posters everything is quite simple: one party said this, another that, and the political leader something else - that’s the way the state of Israel was founded. The miracle of the night at Isdud is not men-tioned at all. And neither is Eli mentioned, who was hit in the belly by seven bullets and now writes satirical verses.
The soldier flicks through the list of candidates. He accepted it from the hand of an enthusiastic youth so as not to offend him. No. The miracle by the name of Mishka is not on the list.
The soldier is surprised. Something has really happened during the last year? A new spirit has arisen, a whole generation has had its say. Even if the thunder of artillery made it hard to hear. Can it really be so, that of all the thousands of Mishka’s comrades not one is fit to appear on the list of candidates and to be mentioned as a "Founder of the State" on the placards and in the speeches?
The soldier tries to work out which party would get the support of the comrades in his squad. The four who fell, the two who were wounded, or the two who went on the squad leader training course. He doesn’t know. It is interesting to note that parties were never mentioned in their discussions. Did they talk about politics at all? Certainly. Quite a lot in fact. Because Itzik, who later became a squad leader, was a passionate debater and could never sit still. But their politics was so different from that of the posters on the wall...
At first they talked about the possibility of fighting to clear the road to Jerusalem. Then they discussed whether the Negev should be liberated immediately, or if they should wait until they had tanks. It was quite a different politics. Perhaps because they knew that they were the ones who would have to pay the price for this politics. And