Sergeant Matan Rodger was seriously injured during last week’s ramming attack near Dolev, just north of Jerusalem – but he wants to go back to duty right away.
“I’m dying to get back to my unit,” he quipped to Channel 2, just 24 hours after opening his eyes and regaining consciousness for the first time. Rodger is currently being treated at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer.
“I cannot remember the actual moment, but I can remember the seconds before,” he added, noting he was talking with one of the female officers in his unit.
The terrorist in the Dolev attack rammed his car into Rodger and two fellow soldiers, both of whom suffered light injuries. They are being treated at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem.
Matan’s parents have been beside him for the past week in hospital. Yesterday, when he woke up, he was surprised to see his mother standing before his eyes.
“I didn’t understand what I was doing here and why she was standing in front of me,” he said.
Doctors told the news agency that Matan has a long recovery ahead.
Despite this, all he wants to do is get back into action.
“Everyone is surprised that I woke up so soon,” he beamed, thanking the medical team for their efforts. “I’m dying to get back on my feet and run off to the next thing.”
Security, policy breaches
Last week’s attack in Dolev marked not only the first ramming attack in several weeks, but serious breaches in Israel’s security and political policies.
Shortly after the attack, it was revealed that the IDF had partially withdrawn from Palestinian Authority (PA) towns in Judea-Samaria, or “Area A” – and that the lack of security coordination may have been the direct precursor to the attack.
Then, the Defense Ministry immediately returned the body of the terrorist – identified as Riyad Shehada, a 36-year-old from Kalandiya in northeastern Jerusalem – to his family, against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s explicit orders.
The funeral for Shehada was held with enormous fanfare from Hamas and a rally of honor for “martyrdom.”
