Gadi Eisenkot Recalls Youth Injury, Military Trauma, and Late Son Gal

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the "Yashar!" party and former chief of staff, shared personal stories on Thursday from his military service, ranging from a severe head injury in his youth to the trauma that followed, and the memory of his late son Gal, who fell in battle.

Speaking on the "Slicha Mi-Rosh" podcast hosted by Yadin Gelman and Alon Kaminer from All in, Eisenkot recalled the incident in which he was seriously wounded during a drill as a young soldier. "I was a soldier in a squad commanders course, finished an exercise commanding an APC, and then switched to become the APC driver," he recounted. A stray bullet entered the driver's compartment and struck his forehead, splitting in two.

Recovery and Trauma

Despite the severity of the injury and his urgent evacuation to Soroka Medical Center, Eisenkot recovered quickly and chose to look at the event with humor. "I took a bullet to the head, yes. In Golani that's an advantage, it gives you an open mind for the rest of life," he joked, noting he returned home after two or three weeks.

Alongside the humor, Eisenkot admitted the severe injury left psychological traces that accompanied him later in his military career. "When I was a platoon commander and did machine gun coordination... I would always put some flak jacket on my face, testing tools out of trauma when passing through an outpost. But it passed at some stage."

Memory of His Son Gal

Later in the conversation, Eisenkot touched with longing upon the memory of his late son Gal, who fell in the war, recalling their discussions around the rigid military discipline Gal struggled to accept. "Gal, my son, didn't like military life. He always laughed at me. He used to say about me 'Hard head. Why does everything need to be done three times?'... He certainly laughed at the discipline, even though he understood he had to do it."