Only two months earlier, the family had suffered another devastating blow, when Hagai\u2019s cousin, Master Sgt. (res.) Shlomo Aviad Nayman, a soldier in the 222nd Battalion, was killed in battle in southern Lebanon on the eve of Simchat Torah.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n 6 View gallery <\/p>\n Lerner was called up for his second round of reserve duty about six months after completing his regular service in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 52nd Battalion. At the time, he had just begun a preparatory program ahead of a civil engineering degree at Ariel University. He was assigned to the 10th Brigade, and on Dec. 22 he was wounded during a nighttime raid on a Hamas post in the Nuseirat refugee camp.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the raid, a terrorist came at us and fired an RPG. At that moment I collapsed inward and went blind instantly. I was hit by shrapnel in the eyes, face, right arm, neck and head.\u201d<\/p>\n Lerner was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center, where he was sedated and on a ventilator for a week, also suffering from a brain hemorrhage. He was later transferred to Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, where he underwent another surgery to remove a tumor in his abdomen that was discovered by chance due to the injury. Fortunately, the tumor turned out to be benign.<\/p>\n Because of his injuries, he completely lost his right eye, and in his left eye he can perceive only faint light and shadows. In a near-unbelievable twist, Lerner was wounded just a few hundred meters from the spot where his grandfather, Michael Orlinsky, was killed in a stabbing attack during Passover 2002. \u201cIt was insane to fight the same enemy in the same place where your grandfather was murdered,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6 View gallery <\/p>\n Hagai Lerner on Mount Hermon before the war <\/p>\n (Photo: Private collection)<\/p>\n Daily life: \u201cI ride a tandem bike for the blind at Beit HaLochem, which is operated by the IDF Disabled Veterans Organization, and I work out twice a week at the \u2018Brothers for Life\u2019 gym. I\u2019m studying computer accessibility and taking an English course. At the same time, I attend a special program for the wounded at Bar-Ilan University twice a week.\u201d<\/p>\n Challenges: \u201cBeing able to ask for help, and the fact that you can\u2019t go anywhere on your own \u2014 you need someone to help you navigate. Since the injury, I feel like I\u2019ve been learning to live all over again \u2014 to get up, walk, eat, the simple, basic things.\u201d<\/p>\n Small victories: \u201cGetting up in the morning, going out, not sinking into depression, looking forward, loving. My dream is to fulfill my potential and be happy.<\/p>\n \u201cComing to terms with the loss of my sight was very hard, but in the end, you understand there\u2019s nothing to do \u2014 you were wounded, and crying about it won\u2019t help much. You have to move on and deal with it. It also comes from a place of gratitude to God \u2014 because yes, I was wounded, but I\u2019m still alive. I may not be able to see, but my brain works, and I\u2019m at my peak.\u201d<\/p>\n Family support: \u201cMy family and my partner Shira have been with me from the start. Shira was my anchor, she supported me and showed me the good sides too. It was a major wake-up call for all of us, but everyone has been giving their full support.\u201d<\/p>\n Bureaucracy: \u201cI know a lot of people have trouble getting their rights from the different authorities. I, as someone officially recognized as severely wounded \u2014 and with an injury that\u2019s impossible to miss \u2014 went through a relatively easy process.\u201d<\/p>\n His message: \u201cAlways try to see the glass half full. It\u2019s hard, but even within the injury, the good things are there. Thank you to the people of Israel for your support. In the rehab wards, you meet people who dropped everything to come and help, contribute, offer a hug.\u201d<\/p>\n Yonatan Ma\u2019atuf | Wounded in a friendly fire incident in the Gaza Strip<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I did was scream. I saw my hand was attached by just a small piece of skin. Ten seconds later, I already understood I wouldn\u2019t have a hand,\u201d says Yonatan Ma\u2019atuf, then a Namer APC commander in Golani Brigade\u2019s 12th Battalion, who lost his hand in Gaza in a friendly fire incident about nine months ago.<\/p>\n The incident occurred as members of his platoon were repairing a malfunctioning MAG machine gun. \u201cI had just finished refilling oil in the Namer, right in front of the MAG, while they were disassembling it. One of the guys stepped aside for a moment, and the other reattached and cocked the gun. When the first guy came back, he didn\u2019t realize the ammo belt was already back in.\u201d<\/p>\n His comrade tried to unload the MAG, unaware it was loaded, and fired three rounds that struck Ma\u2019atuf\u2019s hand directly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6 View gallery <\/p>\n Yonatan Ma\u2019atuf after the injury, at a lake in northern Italy <\/p>\n (Photo: Eliyahu Adler)<\/p>\n Yonatan was evacuated to Soroka Medical Center,<\/a> where doctors had to amputate his hand. \u201cI told myself, \u2018This is what it is, and from here we move forward.\u2019 I felt God had performed a miracle that I was still alive, because if the bullets had hit just two centimeters to the left, I wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course it hurt to lose a hand \u2014 I realized from the start that my life was going to change,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe first period was tough. One of my biggest hobbies was rock climbing, and I wondered what that would be like now, or how I would meet someone and get married feeling so broken. But slowly you understand it\u2019s not like you think.\u201d<\/p>\n Daily life: \u201cI try to stay as busy and as normal as possible. From the beginning, I told myself I wanted the injury to affect my life as little as possible. There are organizations that run classes for wounded veterans. I train in martial arts \u2014 I\u2019m even signed up for future competitions \u2014 and I\u2019ve gone back to climbing. This coming March I\u2019ll also start studying at Ariel University.\u201d<\/p>\n Challenges: \u201cSometimes I need help with the little things, like zipping up or buttoning a shirt. I can do it, but it takes time and I have to ask for help. Anyone who knows me knows that\u2019s the thing I hate the most.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m on a trip in Italy right now with a friend who ties my shoelaces in the morning \u2014 it\u2019s not an easy feeling. We\u2019re the same age, but I need help like a little kid. The looks I get on the street are tough too. In Israel people may be somewhat used to it, but it\u2019s still not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Small victories: \u201cAnything I manage to do alone that I couldn\u2019t do before feels like a victory. A few days into the trip in Italy, I figured out how to tie my shoelaces by myself.<\/p>\n There are bigger wins too \u2014 like succeeding at wall climbing or in martial arts. At first I didn\u2019t know how I\u2019d manage. How do you throw a punch with one hand? But in the end, I go, and I enjoy those small victories more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 6 View gallery <\/p>\n Yonatan before the injury, in Gaza. ‘Anyone who knows me knows that asking for help is the thing I hate most’<\/p>\n Family support: \u201cI draw strength from my family. My father, who lost his brother Staff Sgt. Yisrael Ma\u2019atuf in battle in Lebanon in 1992, said to me in the hospital the moment he saw me: \u2018Thirty years ago, we begged to be told that my brother was only wounded. Now my son is here, alive and mentally strong \u2014 so everything is okay.\u2019 He told my grandmother the same thing \u2014 she took it the hardest.<\/p>\n My siblings didn\u2019t know how to react at first, but they adjusted very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n Bureaucracy: \u201cThere are many good people and organizations that help and explain what needs to be done, and thanks to them I\u2019ve been able to manage better. Organizations like The Next Step for amputees in Israel, and the organizations One Heart, Brothers for Life and Ahavat, have supported me from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n His message: \u201cIt might be hard to see from the outside, but in rehabilitation it\u2019s clear: the people of Israel are strong and united.\u201d<\/p>\n Porat Shaer | Wounded during an operation near Jabaliya<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t hear anyone, just a ringing sound. When I tried to lift my helmet, I got so dizzy it felt like the whole world was spinning,\u201d says Porat Shaer, 39, a reservist in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion.<\/p>\n Porat\u2019s third round of reserve duty came just before his son\u2019s bar mitzvah. Despite the timing, and due to a shortage of manpower in his crew, Shaer decided to report anyway. \u201cAt first we thought I wouldn\u2019t enter Gaza, but in the end we decided I would, as long as I leave two days before the Torah reading. I didn\u2019t tell my wife at all, I kept it from her,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n![\"\u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yk14603156_0_44_515_290_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Photo:")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/BJokzgMGbx_0_574_683_385_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Hagai")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05e0\u05ea\u05df](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/HyZhylMfbx_0_215_1280_721_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Yonatan")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Yonatan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/yk14603121_0_112_468_264_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Yonatan")
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![\"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05ea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/HJmi61zG11e_0_323_961_540_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Porat")
<\/a>![\"\u05e4\u05d5\u05e8\u05ea](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ByqQUgfzWg_0_194_1280_720_0_x-large.jpg\" "\\"Porat")
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