At a thanksgiving ceremony and Talmud tractate completion at the Yeshiva in Eli, Rabbi Yehuda Sadan, head of the yeshiva, recounted how he survived a drone strike in Lebanon and the evacuation that followed under fire. He said the event left him with a deep sense of gratitude and divine protection, and noted that his father, Rabbi Eli Sadan, and several other rabbis attended, including Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, Rabbi Akiva Kestiel and Rabbi Rafi Lampert.
Sadan said the soldiers had spent a “very uplifting” Shabbat after arriving at a new, “beautiful” base, and then decided to move more equipment into the field even though the danger was already clear. One truck was carrying a large amount of explosives intended for operational use when a drone appeared and moved toward the force. He said one drone was neutralized after getting tangled in a cable, but the threat did not end there.
According to Sadan, the troops ran for cover when they realized the drone was pursuing them, scrambling over holes and rocks toward a nearby building. He called the sequence a “chain of miracles,” saying the first was that the drone did not hit the explosives truck. “It was clear to us that everything was meant for the truck,” he said. “It saw us on the way and got confused.”
The most dramatic moment came when the drone exploded near the structure where the soldiers were sheltering. “I was in the stairwell. I flew with the body armor, vest and helmet,” he said. When he opened his eyes, he heard screams and thought everyone around him had been wounded, but he found that apart from ringing in his ears and “everything black,” he was unharmed. He added that the doctor and two medics were also injured, leaving only one medic, though the doctor remained calm and kept directing the incident after treating himself.
Sadan said the force then had to evacuate the wounded in difficult conditions, with some injured soldiers weighing more than 100 kilograms and the stretcher damaged. After about 35 minutes, a helicopter arrived and managed to evacuate four wounded soldiers, while the rest continued to be treated and evacuated. He ended by saying that the fact the incident did not become a far worse tragedy was, for him, proof of providence and rescue.
