NBC6’s Ari Odzer spoke to South Floridians currently in Israel and experiencing the fear and shock first-hand.
Thousands of South Floridians not only have ties to Israel, but make regular trips to the country, and two of them told us the country feels like it’s under siege right now.
Hamas is posting dozens of graphic, violent videos bragging about abducting and killing unarmed civilians. They’re trying to traumatize and terrorize the Israeli population, and it’s working.
“And we’re watching innocent people, civilians, women, children, babies, old ladies get murdered and kidnapped, it’s surreal,” said Dr. David Genet, a South Florida periodontist who spoke to us from his vacation home near Tel Aviv. “The prevailing feeling is shock, in the whole country, it’s the 9/11 of Israel, it’s how we all felt when we were watching the towers come down.”
Israel-Hamas War
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“And now we’re getting word that over a thousand terrorists got through the border and everybody just can’t believe it, and of course the shock goes to anger,” said Teva Benshlomo, a Coral Springs resident who was speaking to us from Haifa. “There’s never been such a widespread terrorist infiltration and there are still terrorists at large and now the fear is really starting to sink in.”
“There is that sense of where is our army, where is our intelligence, where is our defense?” Genet said.
He told us he’s not scared for himself, but he’s extremely worried for his son who lives in Israel.
“My son, who’s a paratrooper, was called up on Saturday evening, he left the house, he left his wife and one-year-old to put on his army boots and his backpack and go, presumably he’s gonna end up in Gaza, fighting a war,” Genet explained. “It’s the worst thing you can ever imagine, and I empathize so much with the soldiers in the United States during Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Benshlomo was in Israel 50 years ago during the last surprise attack, when the Yom Kippur War started. Her late husband, Arnon Benshlomo, fought in that conflict.
“It’s kind of almost worse because now, they’re within Israel,” Benshlomo said.
Worse this time because civilians are the targets. Her son, Yoni, and his fiancée, Hila, were supposed to get married Sunday. They postponed everything when Hamas attacked, and killed one of Hila’s close friends.
“And Hila, the big sad part is she was supposed to have the happiest day of her life and now she’s inconsolable,” Benshlomo said.
A lifelong peace activist, Benshlomo said she’s especially distraught over the future of the country. Israel has been dramatically divided politically over the past year, with weekly protests over the government’s plan to reduce democratic checks and balances. But faced with a common, barbaric enemy, the country is completely united as it begins the process of fighting a war.
