Dor Avidan, a reserve communications officer and command post leader in the 22nd Battalion of the IDF ‘Carmeli Brigade,’ was stationed deep in Gaza. Back home, near Haifa, his wife Zohar (28) was in the early stages of her first pregnancy. In the midst of war, surrounded by fellow soldiers, a blue smoke signal delivered an important message.
Photo: Zohar, Dor, and baby-Avidan Photography: Rambam HCC
Seven months ago, around May, Avidan was stationed deep in the heart of Gaza. “We had just finished an operation in Gaza and entered a building,” he recalls. “The guys started asking about Zohar’s pregnancy, wondering what I thought the baby’s sex would be. Then suddenly, I saw blue smoke rising from a neighboring building.” The smoke came from a blue flare grenade.
Unknown to Avidan, Zohar had contacted his battalion commander who was carrying the grenade. The blue smoke was the signal—the couple was expecting a boy. “That’s how I found out we were having a son,” Avidan says. “It was the most surreal and creative moment imaginable.”
After seven months, four deployments, and 246 days of reserve duty in Gaza and Lebanon Avidan was discharged from duty. “It was incredibly hard,” he recalls. “Finding out in Gaza that we were expecting a son and not being there for Zohar during such an important time was difficult. During the advanced stages of pregnancy, she was struggling, hormonal, sad, and worried—while I’m away it is harder for us both.” He reflects, “My heart was torn between Zohar and my friends on the frontlines. We lost fighters in the last operation; it’s impossible not to feel a sense of responsibility. But my wife is a queen, and now, we’re here together.”
He made it home for the birth and recently the couple welcomed their son at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel.
“I hardly experienced the pregnancy but, thank God, I was there, it was an amazing and wonderful experience. The team was incredible—every single one of them. We are overjoyed,” he adds.
As both a father and a soldier, Avidan shares his hopes for his son: “We fought—and continue to fight—so that he and future generations can live in peace. I hope that everything we’ve done on the battlefield will create a future for everyone that is far better than our present.”