It should be just another day for the Lions of the Jordan Valley, as the IDF’s Battalion 47 are known, but still these 440 men and women can never quite tell what to expect.
As their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Ariel Barbi, speaks by Zoom from his armoured vehicle, he apologises for being late but there was the little matter of an angry biker gang to be dealt with.
“One of their motorcycles had been stolen and they were expressing their discontent with the situation,” he explains with cool-headed military understatement.
Barbi is stationed in the southern part of the Jordan Valley with his soldiers, who are “about 60 per cent women and 40 per cent men. There’s full equality between the two genders in terms of their service in the battalion,” he says.
Roaming from close to the border to deep into Israel, their mission is simply to “keep the peace and ensure that the area’s residents, who the battalion is there to serve, can have a quiet life”.
That commitment is to all communities. In recent days, the battalion have been ensuring Christians can celebrate at Qasr al-Yahud (“Jewish castle” in Arabic), said to be the site where John the Baptist carried out the baptism of Jesus. The location is also important for religious Jews, who understand it to be from where Elijah ascended to Heaven.
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'I always think about my mission — the security of the region': Colonel Ariel Barbi (Photo: Flash 90)
The mission has gone off without a hitch: “The battalion was involved in securing the freedom to practice religion. It went very peacefully, everyone was able to worship in peace,” says Col Barbi. He’s speaking from beneath a clear sky in the middle of beautiful Israeli landscape.
He is parked near a village not far from the desert with a mountain forming the backdrop. It’s a mild winter day: outside the vehicle, the temperature has reached 17C.
Col Barbi cuts a strikingly athletic figure — he spends his few off-duty hours running to maintain his fitness levels — and he uses the mantras of the business world to explain how he relishes the different challenges each day brings.
“As a commander, I always believe in taking ourselves out of our comfort zone,” he says. “In order to do that, I sometimes move around companies, make sure they are practising different drills for different scenarios, to make sure that they don’t feel stuck in the same place for too long.
“I explain to my soldiers, companies like BlackBerry and Blockbuster didn’t keep up with the times and didn’t adapt and change enough, and companies like Apple and Netflix took their place. And as the world changes, the commanders and soldiers in the IDF need to make those changes to make sure they are fully prepared for the reality we are now in.”
As you’d expect, Barbi wants his soldiers to aspire to the highest standards in fitness, marksmanship, Krav Maga and the other military disciplines. But he also places education at the core of his ethos to ensure a rounded development.
He says: “The region we’re in has so much history. Every site around has a story behind it. So we make sure that the soldiers learn the history of the different sites and encourage them to go to other places in Israel too and learn about them and really get to know the history and geography of the land.”
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Holy site: A woman being baptised in the River Jordan (Photo: Flash 90)
His service means he sees his wife and three daughters — aged 10, seven and six — only every second weekend and he has not a flicker of doubt as to where his home is for now.
He says: “I’ve been in the region of the Southern Valley for two years. Protecting the residents here is my life, which I live and breathe. I feel a personal connection to the area. Protecting the region is my patriotic duty.”
His focus doesn’t let up, even on those fortnightly visits home. “I’m always thinking about my mission, which is the security of the region,” he says.
Does he have a message for the JC? “I’d like to say to your readers, Israel is very safe and we’re making sure of it. The IDF is strong. Battalion 47 is on the job 24/7, around the clock.
“I’m happy the Jews of the diaspora support Israel and we will continue to make sure that Israel is a safe home.”
