7th Israel Report: Survivors of October 7th
Israel Report #7 - Survivors of October 7th
This morning we visited Shaar Ha’Emek kibbutz, where the entire population of Kibbutz Nahal Oz was evacuated to after October 7. There are many evacuees staying in hotels in Israel, including ours in Haifa and Tel Aviv. At our Haifa Dan Panorama hotel there were evacuees from Tel Dan in the north; at our hotel in Tel Aviv I met families evacuated from the town of Sderot.
This morning in the news three more names were released by the Israeli government after their deaths were confirmed. One is a 45-year-old policeman, who had been believed to be a hostage, a father of 4, confirmed to have been killed on October 7. His body had been taken to Gaza by the Hamas Palestinian terrorists. In total, 43 Israeli police officers were killed October 7 and since then; that’s comparable to something like over 1000 police officers in the US if this had happened in comparable scale in America. In other news today, 15 countries have pulled or paused their funding from the UNWRA organization because some of th UNWRA employees’ involvement in the October 7 atrocities. Germany is now suggesting dismantling UNRWA completely. The reported proposed hostage deal is now some 2000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for some portion of the hostages. Some hostage families have gone down to the Kerem Shalom crossing to protest giving humanitarian aid to Palestinians while Israeli hostages, from a 1 year old baby to an 86 year old, are not receiving medications or adequate food. There have been 223 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7.
We met with three residents of Nahal Oz who survived October 7 and are now living in temporary housing on Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek in the Jezreel Valley in the north of Israel, about 170 kilometers from their homes. In addition to the civilian residents brutally murdered, Nachal Oz also had a military base where more than 60 soldiers were killed on October 7.
Yael from Kibbutz Nahal Oz began the program. The kibbutz was established on Simchat Torah 1953 and this fall was supposed to be celebrating 70th anniversary with a big show put on by th residents. Of course, the October 7th attack took place on Simchat Torah. The origin of the kibbutz, like many kibbutzim, was to put an agricultural settlement next to the border. Soldiers were stationed near there and some of them would decide to stay and settle after their service was done. Kibbutz Nahal Oz was located right at an army base at its start. From 1956-1968, 6 soldiers were killed out of the kibbutz population. 1968-on was a good time for Nahal Oz. It was a successful kibbutz, on the traditional socialist model for kibbutzim of that era. T
Throughout the 80s and 90s Nachal Oz continued to do well, but began to have security needs. Prior to the 1990s no fence existed between the Gaza Strip and the kibbutz, workers went back and forth freely, people drove over to Gaza to shop, interaction was simple and non-violent. In the year 2000 the first rockets fell on Nahal Oz, but no one really took it seriously, neither the government nor the army nor even the residents. By 2003 they started to understand that they needed to have some security. Of course it has intensified steadily since then.
There have been three large IDF military operations in Gaza prior to this war, the last big one in 2014. They lost a child in Nahal Oz in a Palestinian rocket attack on 8/22/2014. Some families left then, and the kibbutz population went from 400 down to 300. But by October 7 2023 it was back up to 467 people.
Kibbutz Nahal Oz lost 15 people who died October 7 in the Hamas Palestinian terrorist attack. 7 kibbutz residents were taken hostage, 5 of whom have been released. One person killed that day had his body taken into Gaza by Hamas.
When the population of Kibbutz Nahal Oz had to evacuate they were left with nothing, no medicine, no extra clothes. On that day the residents who survived spent many hours locked in their safe rooms with no water or bathroom facilities. Everyone is traumatized, 70% of them are living now around Shaar Ha’Emek in temporary housing. Others from the close Kibbutz Nahal Oz community are living scattered with family members around Israel.
We heard movingly from Naomi Adler, a survivor of 10/7. Although born in Minneapolis she grew up in Jerusalem. Her husband was a kibbutznik from a different kibbutz. They joined Nahal Oz in 2017. They had their final rehearsal for the big anniversary show the night before the attack; the kids were in the show, too. This kibbutz was real community and gives her life meaning differently than growing up in Jerusalem. She’s a nurse who works as the community activity planner, her husband is a farmer, they have 3 young sons. Their three boys are 7, 6, and 2 years old. Her husband had 20 Palestinian workers from Gaza working for him in agriculture, and when October 7th happened he was concerned with how his workers were. Their home was just one year old, they built it themselves 18 months ago, but now she’s not sure that she can go back to it ever. Trauma is real for all of them and long-lasting. She is now the event coordinator for a kibbutz in exile. Their kids’ bedroom is the safe room.
On October 7th Naomi woke up at 6:29am to the loudest noise ever, nonstop, something that had never happened before. She didn’t even hear the red color (Tzeva Adom, severe danger) notice. The incredibly loud noises (rockets from Gaza) stopped after 10 minutes. She opened the door of the house for air and saw cars driving through the field towards the Iron Dome base near them which protects them from rockets. She saw strange cars driving through the fields, and saw her next-door neighbors, one of whom was later murdered by Hamas.
At that point Naomi saw the message on her phone to get into the safe room and lock the doors. They were in there with some water, but no bathroom facilities, no diapers and the 2- year-old is not yet potty trained. The terrorists shot their door but through luck one bullet lodged in the door and locked it shut. Then the power went out, and they spent 12 hours with no power in a closed safe room, hot, stifling. They saw on their phones’ WhatsApp group neighbors begging for help, asking “where’s the army?” and saying “they (the terrorists) are here…” they heard grenades, spoken and shouted Arabic, RPGs fired and exploding. They were in their safe room, overall, for 19 hours. Used a box as a toilet. Smelled terrible. Hot, not much air. No idea what was going on. Cell service dropped at noon. Phones were used as flashlights so they weren’t totally in the dark throughout. “I don’t know how we survived.” Each person fell asleep at various times likely from low oxygen. At 7pm the power came back on, then WiFi. Her mom called crying and she told her mother we are still stuck in here, but we are fine so stop crying (now that’s an Israeli thing to do!).
Later in the evening they saw families being rescued by the army and shipped out. They texted, “Hey, we Adlers are still here.” The IDF, going house to house got there around 1:30am. Kids woke up, were scared; they left with the kids barefoot, Naomi grabbed diapers and wipes, grabbed kids clothes but not their own. Soldiers were all around them in full battle equipment. There were 20 to 30 bodies of Hamas Palestinian terrorists behind their home but they didn’t see them. It was a full-on warzone outside. Both of their cars were torched by terrorists.
The IDF brought them to a garage until enough survivors had collected there to put them on a bus to an army base. An IDF Officer told them, “You are safe now” and they all began to cry. People in pajamas. Friends telling them “They shot Maayan, and they took Tzachi.” There was a social worker on the army base when they arrived to help the families.
She and the kids can’t go back home for a long time. Her husband goes back 2 to 3 times a week to harvest bananas and other crops. He will never again work with Palestinian workers from Gaza, he says. All trust is gone.
The family was soon bused to Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’Emek in the Jezreel Valley the next morning, and have been here ever since. They are now staying in dorms made for 16-17 year olds. Kibbutzniks here supplied them with all essentials. Their kids, who dearly love their grandparents in Jerusalem, are too scared to leave Mishmar HaEmek to visit them.
No one is OK. The closest to being OK are those who say they are not OK. She will stay in Israel. Not sure about going back to her home. Can’t be among people who are living a normal life right now. Erev, Nir, Alon are her 3 boys.
Danny Rachamim spoke next. He was an extraordinary speaker. Born in Israel in Hadera, he has lived for 50 years in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Stayed after his army service. He came in 1975, got married in 1983 to someone who came to visit. They have three children, 2 who lived on Kibbutz Nahal Oz. A 39 yr old son, two grandchildren, daughter with partner and a one year old. His 30 year old daughter can’t stay in Nahal Oz because of PTSD. On 10/7, Shabbat, there were rockets, he and his wife were alone in their apartment, went to the safe room-shelter. After 20-30 minutes shooting started. They went out a few times from their safe room during the day (this is not recommended by authorities during a terror attack; they were lucky). At one point his wife was in the bathroom and saw Hamas terrorists on the path next to the house speaking Arabic. She quickly came back to the shelter room. They heard shooting behind their house, and a good friend was murdered there by Hamas terrorists who shot through the door of their safe room shelter and killed her, then shot her husband. Hamas left through their back yard and went to a house 30 feet from them. People called his cell to see what was happening but of course he couldn’t talk or make any noise—and he was in some shock as well.
They received WhatsApp messages from neighbors begging for help and felt helpless. Danny phoned TV channel 13 and told them what was happening in Nahal Oz. “Where is the army?” he said. “Tell them we need them to come help us, save us.” Their daughter and her partner were in communication with him, but his son was just 500 meters away in his home but they couldn’t reach him and they didn’t know what happened to him.
Their son actually heard the shooting, locked his door and closed his house down. His wife had left at 4am to go to Beersheba for her running group and was driving back to Nahal Oz that morning and saw bodies. The kibbutz checkpoint stopped her (she called her husband crying “what about my children?”; he told her it was too dangerous to try to come home). Finally, she got a text through to her husband, he said kids are ok. His wife didn’t believe it initially. Believed they were hostages and Hamas was sending messages using his phone. She asked him to spell her name in English to prove it, Siobhan (she’s Irish). It took an hour but he proved they were ok. Meanwhile, his father Danny couldn’t find the key to the safe room. His wife said “ok, so if we die, we die.”
Then, in the evening, Danny went to the bathroom and heard and saw IDF soldiers speaking Hebrew. He came out of his house to find an Israeli soldier aiming at him; he was able to convince them he was Israeli. Soldiers went to rescue his son and grandkids.
Screaming followed then; a friend, Sharona, had lost her husband to friendly fire. Danny says, “we didn’t worry about our own lives, just our son and grandchildren.”
During the attack, their son closed doors and windows, had no power and didn’t know what was happening. He gave his kids candy, and they had electronic tablets to play on. Early on their son went out, and since he is a carpenter he cut some wood to brace the door and prevent anyone opening the door to the safe room.
Evening came. When it was time for his kids to shower he said, “look, I have good news. You don’t have to shower tonight!” The kids responded by cheering, ‘Yay!’”
By 9pm he figured the terrorists were all dead, and he and his children came out of the house. At 1am the army came and told them they were safe. Danny’s wife wouldn’t leave the Kibbutz until they knew their son and grandchildren were ok; his wife went with the army to see if family is ok. It took what seemed to Danny quite a long time but finally they came back. He shouted at her “what took you so long!” Just a stress reaction…
Until today it’s hard for him to hear that everyone is the same, that Arabs are bad, that all the Palestinians are Hamas. He doesn’t believe that. People are good and bad regardless of whether they are Muslim or Jew or Christian. He has a Muslim friend who cried with him after that Shabbat. Another friend, a Muslim Arab, saved many young people at the Nova festival before Hamas killed him.
Danny is very active in the reform congregation, does divrei Torah regularly.
Kibbutz Mishmar haEmek has opened their hearts to them, far more than the government would do. The Nahal Oz kids are in school here at this kibbutz. Kids in Shnat Sheirut, the year of national service before entering the army, are teaching them. It’s not, for them, like the community of Kibbutz Nahal Oz. They haven’t had time to process and grieve. Not all the victims are buried yet. There is as yet no place to go and remember.
The people of Israel showed up big time; but the government failed badly to respond. Big hotel chains opened up their hotels without any idea if they would be compensated for doing so. Government took a month to respond and more.
It was incredibly powerful and moving to hear these stories, this testimony of surviving terror and evacuation, of lost friends and relatives murdered by Hamas Palestinian terrorists. It is not hard to see how hard it is for people who have gone through this to find room to care about the casualties on the Arab side.