Sergeant Gal Weingarten from kfir Brigade awarded special citation for killing terrorist, injuring another after they slashed his throat during operational activity near Hebron

Central Command Chief Major-General Nitzan Alon awarded Sergeant Gal Weingarten, a combat soldier serving in the Lavi Battalion of the Kfir Brigade with a special citation on Sunday, making him the first Kfir Brigade soldier to receive the honor.

On March 8, Weingarten was attacked by two terrorists and stabbed in the neck during an operational activity in the Palestinian village of Yatta near Hebron. Although he was injured, Weingarten quickly regained his composure and managed to kill one of them and wound the other.

"All of the sudden two Palestinians approached me, after I told them to stay away. One of them jumped on me and the other one slashed my throat from left to right. I realized something bad was happening," Weingarten recalled.

"I elbowed him, which changed the direction of the cut upwards. I later found out this move prevented him from slashing my main artery. I pushed both of them aside, and when I turned around to the direction they were fleeing in, I felt a spray of blood covering me.

"They started to escape, but because of the adrenalin I managed to kneel down and fire four shots at them. I yelled to the other soldiers ´my fire, my fire,´ and pressed on my neck," he said. Weingarten arrived at Haddasah Medical Center in moderate condition, and had to undergo surgery and received 40 stitches. Three days after his surgery, he insisted on going home, and returned to his brigade only after a few days of rest.

Despite almost losing his life in the incident, Weingarten called on teenagers to enlist into combat units: "Those who are contemplating whether to enlist or not should know that combat duty can give the most you can get as a human being," he said. (Copyright 2012 © Yedioth Internet 04/23/12)