 On Wednesday, July 12, 2006, Hezbollah terrorists attacked two armed military vehicles, patrolling the border right here at this point. In the attack, five soldiers were killed and three others were wounded. The Hezbollah terrorists crossed the border and managed to kidnap two soldiers, Eldad Regev and Nihoud Golvasar. This event launched the Second Lebanon War. At that time, I was serving as a fighter and a commander in Goulani. About three months before my release from the IDF, together with my fellow soldiers, we were sent into Lebanon. We spent most of the time in the town of Benjamin, where heavy fighting took place. And while we succeeded in dealing Hezbollah a massive blow, many IDF soldiers also fell. Then, on August 10, four days before ceasefire, my force was tasked with rescuing a tank crew that had been hit by a Corona missile. We carried out the mission successfully, but we were delayed because of the wait for the rescue helicopter. When we returned to our shelter, it was already daylight, which made us vulnerable to an ambush. Before I knew it, a Corona missile was fired at me and hit a nearby wall. I flew in the air, and when I landed, I discovered that I was seriously injured. I felt my mouth full of blood and pain all over my body, but only when I rolled over and tried to get up did I discover that my foot was cut off. Under heavy fire, I was evacuated by my fellow soldiers who gave me initial treatment in the field, and later, a helicopter arrived to rescue me, taking me back home to Israel for an emergency life-saving surgery. Fortunately for me, the Jewish and Arab doctors at Naharia Hospital treated me and were able to not only save my life, but also to reattach my leg. This is a prime example of how Arabs and Jews are not simply tolerating each other in Israel in coexistence, but are actively working in partnership on a daily basis, especially in the efforts to save lives. Meanwhile, Hezbollah missiles killed 44 Israeli civilians, almost half of them Arab Muslims, in the Second Lebanon War. Today marks 17 years to the day I was injured, and actually, to the day I began my new life. While I'm lucky to be alive and today I'm even able to run and play football, part of me remains forever in Lebanon, where I lost commanders and brothers in the IDF. Today Israel faces constant threats from terrorism that doesn't differentiate between Arabs and Jews in Israel, from Iran to Hezbollah to Hamas to the Palestinian Authority. The more we strengthen the partnership between Jews and Arabs in Israel, the better united and prepared we will be, not only to stand against terrorism, but to continue making the desert bloom in Israel.