Author David Grossman’s Son Killed in Lebanon

Author David Grossman’s Son Killed in Lebanon

(IsraelNN.com) The son of left wing author David Grossman was killed in action in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The soldier, Sergeant First Class, Uri Grossman, is from Mevasseret Zion, outside Jerusalem. Grossman was killed when his tank was hit by a missile in the south Lebanese village of Khirbet Kasif.

The son of David Grossman, a renowned novelist and peace activist in Israel, was killed in Lebanon, the army said Sunday night, just three days after the author publicly urged the government to end the war with Hezbollah guerrillas.

Staff Sergeant Uri Grossman, 20, was killed by an anti-tank missile during a major ground offensive in which 24 soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.

His father's appeal to the government on Thursday came a day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Security Cabinet approved the plan for the new offensive.

The three authors initially expressed unequivocal support for a military act of self-defense at the outbreak of the war, but later changed their position in the face of the cabinet's decision to expend operations in Lebanon. Grossman himself argued that Israel already exhausted its self-defense right.

"The argument that an Israeli presence on the Litani (River) would prevent the firing of missiles on Israel is an illusion. Even the argument that we mustn't give Hizbullah a sense of security has been irrelevant for a long time. Hizbullah wishes to see us sink deeper into the Lebanese swamp," Grossman said.

He also joined, along with Meretz and Peace Now, left-wing protesters who demonstrated against the war and called on the defense minister and government to halt military operations.

"Now we must look three steps ahead and not to the regular direction, not to the familiar, instinctive reaction of the Israeli way of fighting – that is, what doesn't work with force will work with much more force," Grossman said. "Force, in this case, will fan the flames of hatred to Israel in the region and the entire world, and may even, heaven forbid, create the situation that will bring upon us the next war and push the Middle east to an all-out, regional war."

Turning his attention to a cease-fire deal, Grossman said: "Had they proposed to us (Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad) Siniora's agreement a month ago, wouldn't we have received it gladly and with cries of joy? We won't receive a better offer than this, even after we pulverize the rest of Lebanon and ourselves."

ה' יקום דמו
May God Avenge His Blood