From Reality to Memory

Iftach’s War Diary of the DY Team “From Reality to Memory” is a rare document, sensitive and touching, that tells the story of the combat operations and complex experience of a reserve soldier in the Combat Rescue Unit 669. Iftach’s drawings present the unit’s rescue of wounded IDF soldiers and the special operations of the unit in Gaza from October 7, 2023 to this day. The Dan-Jacobovitz team is part of the airborne section of 669 in cooperation with commando extraction unit 5515. The team evacuates injured soldiers to helicopters that land in the heart of the Gaza Strip and beyond. In the beginning of the war the team worked in the area of Israel along the Gaza border known as the Gaza Envelope, then in the northern Gaza Strip around Beit Hanoun, and later in southern Gaza around Khan Younis. From the first days of the military operation the team has played a significant role in extreme events of the war – mass injuries, special operations, collapse of buildings on IDF forces. On October 7, Iftach was called up with his team for reserve duty of five months. During his first R&R, three weeks after that Black Shabbat, Iftach brought his sketch book, pens, and markers and began to draw in an attempt to capture his memories and make sense of the tragic events he experienced. When the team completed its duty in mid-March, 2024, the members came together to mount an exhibit of 42 drawings that serve as a war diary of the team. Each drawing will be printed in only ten copies and the proceeds from their sale will be donated to “Bshvil: A Journey for Tomorrow,” a non-profit organization that helps IDF soldiers to overcome combat-related trauma. The organization has developed a unique model of group activities in natural settings that enables the participants to build emotional resilience while processing traumatic combat events and addressing their aftermath. Iftach was born in Ashkelon and studied at the School the Arts there. He enlisted in the IDF in 2013 as a combat soldier in Unit 669 and then served in command and counseling posts. After completing his military service in 2017 he began to study architecture at the Technion in Haifa. He will receive his M.A. in architecture this year. His master’s thesis explores rebuilding Kibbutz Nir Oz amid trauma. The war diary before you has several goals: To expose the general public to the DY team’s work through art. To present a sensitive view of the events and experiences of the team during the war. To give expression to a tool for coping with emotional stress and commitment to continued combat service during the war.

While Katzman plays the piano, the sights from the kibbutz emerge on the page

1 | The First Drawing

A sense of failure and helplessness

2 | October 7

The teddy bear on the lawn in Beeri, embracing a story that will never be known

3 | Beeri

An incomprehensible reality in the rubble of the kindergarten in Beeri

4 | Hatzav Kindergarten

A mobile rescue mission

5 | Against Time

The orphaned scenery screams the story of those who attended their final party

6 | Nova

The team is on alert at Doron’s stables in case of injuries from the battles still raging inside Israeli communities

7 | Among Horses

A first look at the war

8 | A Living Shield

The smell of the vegetable fields near Beit Hanoun greets the team on the way to our mission

9 | On the Way

Connecting with our first injured soldier deep in Gaza and transferring him from hand to hand

10 | Hand to Hand

More soldiers join the fighting

11 | Apocalypse

Silent testimony to the massacre on Black Shabbat near the border fence

12 | Remainders

What does a fighter feel in his soul that prevents him from continuing to fight?

13 | Within the Soul

Evacuation of fifteen soldiers who were shell shocked in the first week of the war

14 | Shell Shock

A classified operation in the heart of Beit Hanoun

15 | Signs of Life

A classified operation in the heart of Beit Hanoun

16 | A Matter of Life

The outstretched arm says it all

17 | Mass Casualties 551

A classified operation in the heart of Beit Hanoun

18 | Signs of Life

What is hiding down the shaft this time

19 | The Shaft

The chopper is here and the stretchers are airborne.

20 | Bringing Them Home

A flock of chickens peeks out among the rubble

21 | The Casbah of Bet Hanoun

The peacocks that remained in Nir Oz after the massacre on Black Shabbat

22 | Nir Oz

What remained

23 | The Edge of the House

Who goes in first and who goes in last

24 | Not a Game

Sometimes the soldiers we brought into Gaza at night lay wounded on our stretchers in the morning

25 | Before and After

Natan, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, lights the first candle of Chanuka with our team in the traditional kibbutz Chanukiah

26 | Rebirth

Evacuating the wounded in the heart of Khan Younis while a tank gives us fire cover

27 | Under Fire

Exposed to enemy drones that try to locate our team’s position

28 | “white cross”

Fifteen minutes of real war to open a flight path end with a sigh of relief, just before the chopper touches ground.

29 | The Total Victory

Ido, Ben, Rom, Nati, and Shai of blessed memory, who lost their lives while trying to save the lives of others

30 | In Their Memory

Between blood and tears

31 | Behind the Lens

A long and complicated evacuation from the heart of Khan Younis

32 | Into the Unknown

Mass casualties just before Shabbat dinner

33 | How Many Flowers?

A soldier carries his wounded comrade to the gathering point for the injured

34 | Homecoming

A light-hearted evening at Kelner’s headquarters

35 | The Commander’s Home

The team together at the commander’s headquarters

36 | Family

Communications, placing the stretcher, aiming for the entry to the landing pad, a smoke grenade, and the location of the vehicles according to the hands of a clock

37 | Signs of the Landing Pad