“Mom, just so you know, today I saved lives”

Not long before Shay killed in a classified operational war mission, he told me something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

In a short conversation, in that same calm and measured tone of his, he said: “Mom, just so you know, today I saved lives.”

He did not explain. He did not elaborate. That was not his style. Shay was one of the quiet professionals — speaking little, doing much. He preferred that I understand on my own if possible, and not ask if it wasn’t necessary.

Only after he was killed in action, did it become clear to us that he was referring to Operation “Golden Hand” (“Yad Zahav”), a complex and secret mission deep inside enemy territory, carried out on February 12, 2024, in which the hostages Fernando Marman and Luis Her were rescued from the Rafah refugee camp. Both returned alive, without a single one of our soldiers being harmed.

It was exactly the kind of mission that suited Shay: professional, sharp, caring, acting precisely when needed — and in silence.

Since then, that sentence has never left me: “Mom, just so you know, today I saved lives.”

A small sentence, but a whole world. Not just a story of what was — but a legacy. One that continues to beat within us, In Shay’s Light.

הפוסט נכתב על-ידי אורלי מיכאלי, אמא של סמל שי מיכאלי ז”ל