'I got a call to Canada in the middle of the night: Biederman was seriously wounded, come command the brigade.' It was clear to me I was returning immediately
Lt. Col. Yoav Schneider, the new commander of the 401st Brigade, tells in his first interview about his return from studies in Canada to command the brigade after his predecessor, Lt. Col. Meir Biederman, was seriously wounded in the head by an explosive drone in Lebanon. Schneider, who was seriously wounded in the Second Lebanon War and lost three of his crew members, describes the difficulties of commanding a brigade that suffered heavy losses, including the fall of Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, commander of the 52nd Battalion, who was his close friend. He talks about the fighting in Lebanon, the brigade's expected return to the Gaza Strip, and the importance of mental health care.
Lt. Col. Yoav Schneider, commander of the 401st Brigade, gave his first interview to journalists Yossi Yehoshua and Reuven Weiss, published on ynet on August 7, 2026. Schneider recounted that on May 20, 2026, while studying at the National Security College of the Canadian Armed Forces, he received a phone call in the middle of the night informing him that his predecessor, Lt. Col. Meir Biederman, had been seriously wounded in the head by an explosive drone in the village of Debel in southern Lebanon, and that he must return immediately to command the brigade. He interrupted his studies and returned to Israel, taking command of the brigade during Operation 'Crown of the Lion,' in which IDF forces encircled Hezbollah's centers of gravity in Bint Jbeil and its surroundings. The brigade operated in the villages of Debel, Rashaf, and Kaouza, and before the ceasefire took up positions on the Yellow Line. About ten days ago, the brigade left Lebanon, and in the coming month it is expected to return to the Gaza Strip. Schneider, who was seriously wounded in the Second Lebanon War when he was a platoon commander in the 74th Battalion, lost three of his crew members at that time. He speaks about his injury, his physical and mental rehabilitation, and the connection he maintains with the families of the fallen. He describes the fall of Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, commander of the 52nd Battalion, who was his close friend, and their last conversation. Schneider emphasizes the importance of psychological treatment, which he underwent for a year after his injury, and encourages his subordinates to use it.