When the Impossible Happens

Many have you have got in touch over the last few days to check that we are safe and to express your horror at what happened on Saturday. It means so much to us. I have finally been able to marshal my thoughts enough for a meaningful reply. I’ll try not to be political and I’ll try not to get angry but it’s impossible for me not to be emotional as I write this.

I know it is not always easy for people to understand the Jews' connection to Israel, nor why people like Malcolm and myself with our nice life and friends and family in England would choose to come and live here. There are the logical ( the sun shines every day), the practical (for orthodox Jews the ease of keeping kosher and celebrating Shabbat and the festivals), the historical (self explanatory) and the emotional (a huge number of our prayers refer to returning to Zion after 2,000 years, our homeland). Everyone who choses to make Aliyah (move to Israel) has their own reasons which are probably a combination of these, as it was in our case. And the importance to us of the existence of the State, whether we live there or not? During the Holocaust most countries that took in Jews, and most did not (Britain was thankfully one of the few), had quotas. Never again will we be in a position where we have no place to go.

Throughout our history Jews have been persecuted for being Jews, whether they try to fit in or not. They have been massacred wherever they live and thrown out of most countries they have lived in and England is, I'm afraid, no exception. The idea of a country where we cannot be thrown out of and won’t be massacred is part of the ideology of the State of Israel. So when news started filtering through last Shabbat of the atrocities taking place in southern Israel we were in a complete state of shock, compounded by the realisation that Israeli intelligence which we, clearly erroneously, believed to be second to none, had no idea this was coming. The unexpectedness, the brutality of what was taking place, the hostage taking, left us stunned, numb.

By lucky circumstances our family was still all together from our holiday, with Ben, Tali and Noah not due to return to England for another few days. Gila and family, who would normally be in Efrat, near Jerusalem, and Alexander who lives in south Tel Aviv, both areas which came under rocket attack, were safely with us. The home command advised everyone to stay in and lock their doors. Answer your door to no one even if they are in uniform - it was believed and is still considered a possibility that Hamas terrorists could be anywhere in the country masquerading as Israel officials. As the day wore on the news just got worse and it was announced that we were at war. The beaches were closed, schools would be closed and shops shut, except for supermarkets and pharmacies. I think for the first 24 hrs we were almost paralysed with shock but then you start to adjust your life to the new reality. Covid had given us plenty of practice at staying in and occupying ourselves and with 11 of us in the house we had plenty of company. We also needed lots of food! Popping out to the supermarket was so surreal. The sun was still shining and the sea was still blue. How was it possible for Netanya to be so beautiful, and peaceful while massacres were occurring in the South? The roads were quiet but the supermarket was quite busy. There was no appearance of panic buying.

We craved information but the information we were getting was horrendous. The scenes from the music festival followed by videos of hostages being taken were too awful to bare. I don't need to tell you that social media is a mixed blessing and we are seeing the best and the worst of it. I'm not a Facebook user but through WhatsApp the videos started coming in of events unfolding and tragically of requests for information on and to pray for missing people. There was also advice on stocking up our secure room, how to explain to children what is going on, to prepare them for going into a secure room and how to watch these awful videos. The first is - Don't watch them! But we're human and its very hard not to so, prepare yourself mentally before you watch, watch in black and white not colour, watch in a small corner of your screen rather than full screen - and so on. It does help. Two days ago the government advised that Hamas were likely to start posting videos of hostages, dead and alive, and advised parents to be extra vigilant in monitoring their children's use of social media. Too awful. But the good side is the pictures we saw of buildings around the world being lit up in blue and white, government buildings in England flying the Israeli flag and world leaders condemning Hamas.

As the numbness started to wear off it became clear that there was a lot civilians could do to help. As you know, there is national service in Israel. When teenagers finish school they spend between two and three years in the Israel Defence Force. They are then called for reserve duty once a year up until the age of 40. When Gila made Aliyah she did a year's national service working in a hospital as a nursing assistant but when Tzvi made Aliyah, he went into a combat unit in the IDF. After a year, when Gila was diagnosed with endometriosis, he was transferred to a non combat unit for a year. As soon as news of events unfurled reservists started receiving messages summoning them to base. Tzvi got in touch with his base and heard that about half of his unit had been called up. The other half were told to speak to the commander. Tzvi was told to wait at home as so many people had turned up that didn't have room for everyone at that point. His comrades who are already on base, are still there and haven't been assigned any duties yet but Tzvi is frustrated at being at home. We are just relieved and happy to have him at home a bit longer. Meanwhile there are collection points all over Netanya for supplies for the soldiers - toiletries, sanitary wear, underwear and snacks - and volunteers are needed to pack all these items. Restaurants which are closed to the public are making meals to supplement the basic army food. Volunteers are needed to take the supplies and food to the bases. Thirty when he made Aliyah, Alexander was too old for national service but many of his friends have been called up. He and a friend came to Netanya to swap his little car for Gila's big car and now spends his day collecting supplies in Tel Aviv and then delivering them to bases. He understood when we asked if he would allow us to track his phone but I'm not sure whether it was a good thing to know that he was a few kilometres from the Lebanese border yesterday afternoon. In the end they were turned back by the army as the rockets had started coming over from Lebanon, although some soldiers from the base they were going to, met them at a nearby town to collect the supplies. Everywhere they go they are warmly greeted and the supplies are well received. At the gates of the base there are often others making deliveries and cooking stations being set up. There are regular postings of photos and videos of this, my favourite is of a group of ultra orthodox cooking and serving food to the soldiers. These are the videos we need to be watching. I have included some below and one that I think sums up the whole situation - the last one - which comes with a viewing warning.

By Tuesday families from the South were being evacuated to the centre of the country. All the hotels and motels in Netanya are now full of evacuees. Most of them left with only the clothes on their back, so requests are coming in for clothes, toiletries and toys for the children. I had kept all the clothes Eliya has grown out of so they have gone to babies that need them now. Volunteers collect from peoples' homes and distribute them to the hotels. Volunteers are needed for babysitting and for help keeping the children occupied. Many are traumatised. Netanya is a seaside resort with many holiday homes. Absentee home owners are offering their apartments for evacuees and volunteers are needed to help with this also.

I have been asked by a lot of you whether we are safe. Houses and modern flats have their own secure rooms and older blocks have one for the building. Stairwells are supposed to be shock proof if you don't have time to get to a shelter. And there are public shelters in every mall and shopping area. They are supposed to keep out bombs, gas and terrorists -lets hope we don't have to find out whether they do. So far the rockets from Gaza have not reached us nor the rockets now coming from Lebanon but we are not complacent. The likelihood of a terrorist incursion this far into Israel is highly unlikely but we are not taking any chances so our secure room is fully stocked. I go to bed every night dreading having to wake the babies in the middle of the night to take them into the shelter. Ben and Tali managed to get a flight home a couple of days early and Alexander has gone back to Tel Aviv. So we have gone from eleven to seven; two babies to one. The secure room will be a little less crowded if we have to use it! Every journey is risky so we keep them to a minimum. Drivers pull over and lie on the road if a siren goes off. Planes arrive and people lie on the tarmac as sirens go off.

Home Front Command App

I've also been asked if we would consider coming back to the UK. We are sickened but not surprised by the BBC's refusal to refer to Hamas as terrorists. How dare they claim to be impartial. We are sickened but not surprised by University professors refusal to condemn Hamas. We are sickened but not surprised by the three fold rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK since Saturday, the increase in security at Jewish schools and nurseries, pupils at Jewish schools being told not to wear their blazers to school. We're here now and that's it.

I think we are still in shock. Now is not the time to apportion blame but there is a palpable sense of incredulity that the State and military were so unprepared for this. The news of what happened on the kibbutzim is impossible to wipe from ones mind. Forty children and babies murdered. Holocaust survivors taken hostage. Sons' of some of our friends have already been called up and our hearts break for them. Funerals have already started taking place. Gila cries herself to sleep every night at the thought of Tzvi leaving. She came to Israel on her own aged 18. Tzvi came a year later aged 19. At 20 they were married after dating since they were 16, childhood sweethearts - still children. At 23 they became parents. At 25 Tzvi may have to go off to war. Pray for them - pray for all the families who have already lost someone and for all those soldiers who are now at war. Pray for us all.

Post script : 08.45 am Thursday morning. Just as I'm about to press 'send' rockets have been intercepted in suburbs of Netanya. We have an app that keeps us updated. I've never heard such a loud boom nor felt the house shake so much.

The following video is the son of close friends of ours. Its very long but just watching a little bit gives you a feeling for what's going on.

Below is an article about a female soldier.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/inbar-lieberman-nir-am-kibbutz-hamas-attackers-dead/

Please watch. Any of your teenagers could have been at this festival.