VIDEO
Israeli reservists withdraw from Gaza ‘apocalypse’ to save economy
Your country needs you back at work, commanders tell fighters
Mike Ripstein, right, a tank commander, and his battalion were ordered to return home
MIKE RIPSTEIN
Mike Ripstein had been commanding a tank in Gaza for 75 days straight when his battalion received the order last week to withdraw.
“Go back, take a breath, go back to your businesses and your jobs,” Israeli army commanders told his battalion of reservists just before the new year. “Decompress; take care of things — because we’re going to need you again. But part of this all is to keep the country going. And we have to keep the country going.”
Ripstein, a sales director for a Tel Aviv tech company, was one of 300,000 military reservists jolted out of civilian life on October 7 after Hamas launched its cross-border attack from Gaza.
Ripstein said he had lost many comrades and morale was low
CATHERINE PHILP
On New Year’s Eve, the Israeli military announced that it had begun
