On this independence day, one soldier exhibited spiritual independence of the highest order in publicly refusing to honor those forces which advance the distruction of our people, its all over the Israel newspapers, below is the story from Arutz 7:
One of the soldiers officially recognized today for outstanding soldiery refused to shake the hand of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General Dan Halutz at the award ceremony in the President's Residence in Jerusalem. The reason for his refusal, the soldier explained, was the fact that members of his family were among those uprooted by the army from their homes in Gush Katif last August. The soldier, Staff Sergeant Hananel Dayan, is a tank driver in the Northern Command and a resident of the Binyamin region town of Psagot.
During the ceremony, at the time the Chief of Staff was handing the soldiers their awards, St. Sgt. Dayan informed Lt. Gen. Halutz that he was not able to shake the commander's hand, as would be customary. In reply to a direct question from President Moshe Katzav about his refusal, Dayan replied, "My family was expelled from Gush Katif." After an uncomfortable moment, St. Sgt. Dayan saluted Chief of Staff Halutz and descended from the dais.
After the ceremony, the Head of IDF Personnel, Major General Elazar Stern, chastised the young soldier and insisted that he apologize to Lt. Gen. Halutz. Dayan explained that seeing Halutz reminded him of the tractors and bulldozers demolishing his grandfather's home and he adamantly refused to apologize.
