Col. Ehsan Dakse, from the Druze community of Daliyat al-Karmel, has known some difficult fighting in his life. During the Second Lebanon War, in 2006, a paratrooper force found itself in a fierce battle at the village of Ayta a-Sha’b. Leaving two tanks to provide cover, Dakse entered the village alone to rescue them, in spite of the anti-tank missiles being fired toward him. For that exploit, he was given the Head of the Regional Command Citation.
Again on Saturday, October 7, 2023, Dakse was unhesitant. He headed immediately for the battlefield. Only two months before, he had concluded his service in the Golan Brigade and started his studies at the National Defense College; but when he heard of the events in the south, he showed up at the front and fought shoulder to shoulder with the troops. When tanks arrived as reinforcements, he assembled a crew ad hoc, boarded one of the tanks personally, and went out to confront the terrorists. He initiated patrols on the roadways to eliminate terrorists at the communities’ entrances before they could invade, and afterward, he assembled a large force and commanded a counterstrike to eliminate hundreds of terrorists who threatened to enter Israel through the Erez Crossing.
Dakse thus continued to serve as a model officer, embodying the values of the IDF’s commanders. He carried out his tasks with determination and presented a personal example of courageously persisting under fire until the goal was reached.
