Bereaved father fumes over investigation: Crime against fighters, generations will grow up on a lie

July 16, 2024   

After the public criticism of the IDF investigation into the October 7th failures at Kibbutz Be'eri: Aryeh Cohen, the son of Captain Shiloh Cohen, a team commander in a Shaldag who fell in combat in Bari, spoke today (Monday) with Ben Caspit and Yinon Magal on 103fm radio. Do you have a social worker certificate? This is why you should fill out this form Regarding the circumstances of his son's fall, Cohen said: "Shiloh, a Shaldag fighter, fell with a Sayeret Matkal team after fighting with them all day. He's like a simple soldier who did everything they asked of him. He was a member of the Sayeret Matkal Savannah. The team wasn't organic, but due to the constraints of time and place, he became organic. Shiloh was a Sayeret Matkal fighter in every sense of the word, only with Air Force ranks." Aryeh said: "Shiloh went into the levels with them in the southern part of the kibbutz. It was over, they went to Saad Junction and to the outskirts of Alumim. In the end, they received instructions to go to Bari. They started clearing houses in Bari. In the third house, a Sayeret Matkal fighter was killed and Shiloh was wounded and said: We're continuing. "There were terrorists in the fourth house. Shiloh told the fighter to go downstairs and he went up to Zigg to replace him. There was a very heavy barrage of fire against a parallel General Staff fighter in the other corner, and Shilo also received a barrage of fire. "The 'Oketz' guys, who acted bravely, created a safe house inside the barracks, and evacuated civilians to it. They came to help rescue the wounded, and in the end the 'Oketz' fighter told us that it was barely possible to talk to Shilo. He was shot in the legs and apparently died from blood loss. Shilo made himself a tourniquet, but it wasn't enough to stop the bleeding." Regarding the parallel interrogations of the fighting units, Cohen said: "We sat at home, and they presented us with a broad interrogation with a lot of integrity. And what is reflected in the interrogation that we received, compared to what is being echoed in the media, is heaven and earth." He clarified: "Our interrogation shows that there was only a striving for contact and connection, compared to what is apparently being echoed. The word "Shaldag" is a code name, because at that time, those who worked in Bari were Shaldag, Matkal, Oketz, and part of 890. It's to discredit the people who were in the inferno." The bereaved father emphasized: "This is the reality that was - just an effort to make contact, how do we get the terrorists out? In what is ostensibly a rebuttal - "Shaldag" is actually a code name to slander those who were there until 4:00-5:00 PM. Rather, to echo something that is not true. We left blood there. It's demoralizing for the fighters. "Every unit does an investigation. And when you see the gap between the investigation on the ground and what is echoed, it screams to the heavens. There is command and control like it used to be." The father added: "It's like the story about the teacher when only half the class arrives. She yells at them and punishes those who arrived. With all the sadness, there is an act of heroism here that the Jewish people can continue to educate about for generations. "Reality has proven that they were not frightened or afraid. The first team that entered, it is only natural that it would run out of ammunition. It technically withdrew to arm itself and enter again. How can you echo something that did not exist? This is a crime against the fighters, which will raise generations on a lie. "With all the pain, we thank God that this is how it was, that bravely and for the sake of the people of Israel and our neighbors from Bari and Palassim, he decided that he wanted to continue for the sake of the people of Israel bravely, and that is what he did. It is impossible to arrange an agenda that does not correspond to reality.".