Liz Naftali’s First-Person Account of the Moment the Sirens Sounded in Israel Last Week

Liz Naftali shares her experience in Israel last Saturday when Hamas attacked and shares the status of her family still in Israel. Liz runs and owns a commercial real estate company in Los Angeles and is the host of The Capitol Coffee Connection Podcast, “all about bringing together elected officials from all walks of life to engage in conversations that go beyond the headlines and party lines.”

Full Transcript:

Maria  
Where you are i? Hi. How are you? How are you? Thank you, first of all for doing this, I said that I had watched you sitting in my home the other night. And I wanted to invite you on because I thought you spoke so movingly about your own experience in Israel last Saturday about the decision to come back to the United States about leaving your daughter behind. So let me just thank you for coming on here. I love the mission, but first of all, how you're doing?

Liz  
Well, first thing you can hear me. I'm good? I did everything right, technologically. Well, thank you for having me. And thank you for inviting me. And at this exact moment I'm okay, because I'm here with you and I'm focused on something. But I will say that since Saturday morning, it's been awful. And I'll just back up because I think that yes, I was there. And you know, at 6:30 in the morning, I was awoken by a siren. And I was in a hotel and we all rushed to the bomb shelter, which is stairwells and hotels. And you know, it's the world there. So in Israel in Tel Aviv they are used to these sirens. And and you can hear in the background, the sound of the bombs, meaning them being exploded in mid air, so it is scary. But there's a point where you're like, Okay, this is something that is part of living in Israel. And it was a beautiful day, and it was holiday Simchat Torah Saturday morning. By the time we went back to our rooms and came back for the second one, I started to hear that something was happening in the south of Israel. And I have relatives that live on a kibbutz that is called Kfar Aza, which is literally along the border with Gaza. And I reached out to my sister in law, and she didn't answer. Then I called my other sister in law and she told me and this was like, very early in the morning already. This is the hard part. And I apologize, I'm just going to be very honest. So people who are listening, it's really harsh. But the first thing she said is that my niece was dead, and her husband was killed. And they didn't have any other details, except for the six and 10 year old were locked in a closet and they didn't know what happened. So what, the husband was outside, it was a beautiful day. And if people don't know what a kibbutz is, it's a beautiful place where people live outdoors. They live in small homes, but they share land and they share so much. But this kibbutz happened to be just a beautiful place. And you could see Gaza, you could see it across, maybe like a half a mile distance. And can I just say that throughout the years, there was never an issue between the people of this kibbutz and the people South and the people of Gaza. But what happened was, my nephew went outside, and he was with a little kid, about three years old. And the bombs started coming over. So he heard them and literally before he could get back in the house, he was ambushed and he was massacred by Hamas terrorists. They had already infiltrated the kibbutz. I only learned today because it's been hard to get this—this we learned on Saturday—but what we learned also, and we were not sure is that when he fell, he fell over the child. In the meantime, his wife, my niece, was inside with a six and a 10 year old and she put them in a closet, locked them in the closet. She called her father, who's an older man who also lived on the kibbutz, and told him to lock himself up. In the meantime they got into the house and they murdered her. So two little kids, six and 10 year old were left in a closet, and they were there until nightfall because the kibbutz could not even be secured, nobody could get to them. In the meantime, the child that was outside, we don't know where she is.

Maria  
So I just want to pause a moment. I know it's a lot. I know. It's a lot. I want to pause to give you a moment because you're right, it's alot. And I know that I'm asking you to be kind of a reporter in a way you're reporting from the front lines of your family. And so I want to honor what we're actually hearing. That this is a family and obviously, nobody wants to pick up the phone or get a phone call that tells you that someone in their family has been killed because that's a shock and a trauma that stays in your head and body—I can attest to that—for decades to come. So I just want to honor this moment for you for your family and I know that you continued to get information about the two little children who were locked in the closet. Their alright? Are there with some other members of your family out there?

Liz  
Yeah, so the they were able to get these kids by evening. What I also learned, which is so interesting is that my niece, for some reason—and I don't know, because we don't live in that world—but she she had planned for this emergency, never hoping it would happen. However, she had created this closet, it was in preparation for a god forbid moment, which is shocking. And yet, it happened. And so I think that was part of why these kids were so safe. She also put them in with a cell phone, one was a 10 year old. What I understand and my daughter saw the kids today, they visited them with relatives. And, you know, the kids were outside playing, and thank God, they were playing and playing soccer and they have a beautiful family. The grandmother arrived back because she had been abroad with a group from the kibbutz. So she was there, the grandfather was there and the the husband's family and our family. So when you ask how the kids are, and we know what the trauma and what there is, the residuals will continue to be for the rest of their lives. Yeah, but at this point, at least they are with family, and they are being embraced, and they have therapy, and they have sports. So there's a little bit of comfort in knowing that that's what they have right now and they're with good family in a safe place.

Maria  
When I was listening to your interview the other night, you said that you had to make this wrenching decision to get out. You had just arrived in Israel on a Friday night. And there was an opportunity for you to leave in the midst of all of this and your daughter, who had moved to Israel wanted to stay, so you had to make this wrenching decision to go or to stay, right? And you chose to go. Your daughter told you that that was okay, but that she wanted to stay behind. What how is your daughter today? How are you, leaving your child behind like that? I read you have five kids?

Liz  
Yes, I have five. This is my daughter and she's in her early 30s. And she decided long ago—we lived in Israel off and on throughout the years—and she decided that she was going to stay. She wanted to make Aliyah which was she wanted to become a citizen. She just celebrated 10 years. She served in the IDF. She has a partner. She has a home. She has a life. And it was wrenching because on Saturday, we didn't see each other Friday night, she was away for the weekend with family for the holiday. We were going to meet for breakfast Saturday. And that all— we were all stuck, we couldn't move. So I didn't see her. And what happened—pretty much, including herself and all my relatives, everybody said, get out. You know, at a certain point, unless you're there to serve a purpose. You're just an extra person that needs to be taken care of. And it was very hard to get out. There weren't a lot of planes that were flying in and out. So I basically got out on Sunday, I took a very long flight to come back. I actually went through the Emirates because there was no flight direct that I could get on. And fast forward, you know, it was the hardest thing because I actually saw her for one hour, I got to stop in her apartment and hold her for one hour. And we cried and we laughed. You know, we just did what we could do to celebrate that moment. And I said, I'll take you with me and she said I'm staying and I appreciate that. That's you know, she has a role there. What I will tell you is that it's been very hard. She had friends that came and stayed with her because their husband was called into. There's a reason why she stayed. She had friends whose husband got called into the army. This woman came with her kids, they gave them support. A lot of men are being called in, they're being sent to the border. Today. She went and she spent time with our family where she got to see the kids and what she wrote, and this is why she's there because she is another person who's telling this story—what she wrote, and it was so beautiful, is that she sat with this family, and the other sister my other niece lives on this kibbutz with her husband, three children. They ran into the bomb shelter. Everyone on their street in this little street on a kibbutz was massacred. Their home was the only one that survived. And they think it's because of where the bomb shelter was that it wasn't easy, because they heard the terrorists come through.

Maria  
Let me ask you because you're this is such a deeply personal, familial thing for you, right? And I hear so many friends are saying like, I don't want to see it anymore. I want to turn away. I don't want to hear about it anymore. How do you balance yourself with being here knowing what's going on? Not turning away or turning in? How should we all balance that?

Liz  
I believe that people should watch a little bit of news. I think everybody needs a little bit. But I think the problem that becomes when people sit in front of the television all day long and that I think is a danger. I read more than I watch in general. But I think we need to—you cannot turn away from this, because this could be—and I don't mean to be dramatic—this could be your neighborhood in America, this could be your neighborhood anywhere in the world, because hate does not have borders. I feel like we can't become numb to this and why I've spoken out and why I did the CNN piece is because I know you talk about love, and you talk about humanity, and you talk about the heart. And that's what my my podcast, which you refered to is about. I think that it's beyond just politics, it's beyond—it's like our heart and our humanity needs to understand what's going on. If we close it off, then not only do we walk around, almost allowing for what they have tried to do to us, which is to disengage us and to turn us off or to scare us. So I think that there is a balance and everyone has their own balance. You know, I look at you right now and I see that picture behind you and I'm assuming it's your parents. And I saw in a picture today, this one house and Kfar Aza in this same kibbutz where there was the family pictures, and it was demolished on the floor. You can't turn away from that and you cannot turn away from human suffering, but you do have to take it in dosages. Why I do this is because I want to bring a human face to it. Because the news is important, but it's hard. And then you lose that hurt.

Maria  
I love that. What you said when I read the description of your podcast, you said it's about getting to know who these people are that we see in the news, the politicians who they are in their hearts. What do you think that we are missing in this story that we're not focusing on that we should perhaps be focusing on?

Liz  
Well, I think there is a lot of focus on loss and I think there's a lot of focus on missing people. I think that where people can focus is, and this is not to take away from trying to help the people in the south of Israel or Israel, but do good in our own hearts. And I know that might sound cliche, but we all have a role to play. And that's why I started the podcast, that's why I'm here today on behalf of a family. We can send our prayers, we can do all that but it's what we do with our own hearts. And you I know prescribe to this, which is if you spread joy, if you feel joy, the ripples have become waves. So I don't want to sound cliche, but when you ask what can we do? Yeah, we can acknowledge that it happened and we cannot fix it. But we can't let hate enter our hearts. And we need to keep pushing forward to try to bring joy and love and all the correct things and honor humanity because this was inhumane what they did.

Maria  
I love what Liz just said right, inhumane at the same time. So calling out what is inhumane, calling out loss, but also and I should say and also looking for the good in humanity. Looking for how you can express love wherever you are, because that is what in the end trumps evil, trumps rage, right? Is people expressing and not turning away totally. I also understand when people are like it's too much I can't handle it. I don't want to see it. And I think as long as the same you know, find your medium. Find what works for you, but don't turn away totally. I advocate that even here at home when people say I've given up on the news. I'm like, don't give up because that's when really bad stuff happens. When we give up, and what you said, you talked to your daughter today. How was she? What does she say life is like there now, we're almost a week out.

Liz  
You know, I won't say life is normal, but the rest of the country, they're still there. They're running their sirens. What I understand is where she went, it was an hour's drive, so it was safe to drive. Listen, everybody knows somebody that was murdered at that dance party, everybody knows somebody that is in Gaza or someplace as a kidnapped person. You have that weight on you and many people have already started going to funerals and Shivas for those who've lost their lives, even if they haven't recovered the bodies. You try to live. You go to the market, because you still need to buy food. But there is so much—and this is the beautiful thing about people in Israel, that no matter the political differences, no matter all that, everybody has come together. The biggest organization that was against—and this is not about politics, this is just to give you an example—the biggest organization that was doing the protests for a judicial overhaul, the minute this happened, they stopped. They became a humanitarian and a civil aid group. They had the best infrastructure so it made sense. They put upside their political issues, they came together, and they are shipping, not only humanitarian things, aid to the folks in the south and throughout the country that are being affected, but they're making sure that these kids that get there have ceramic vests, helmets, belts, shoes This was not planned that you would need to bring, you know, hundreds of thousands of troops to a border to protect a country. So my point is, when you say how are things? It is terrible. It is depressing, but there is a beauty of people coming together and knowing that, you know, we say in Hebrew, Ams Yisrael Chai, Israel lives, the nation of Israel lives and I don't know another nation that comes together like this.

Maria  
Yet, so many people that I've talked to, Jewish friends that I've talked to, are really beside themselves feeling a world away. They may know somebody in Israel, and they're terrified to go out. They're terrified to go to synagogue there. They feel many things for the first time, like, I feel like completely unsafe to be Jewish. Do you feel like that you live in Los Angeles, right?

Liz  
I live between LA and New York, and I'm in New York today. Listen,  I understand it, but yes in the last few days, they said, the Hamas folks said, tomorrow is a Jihad day to kill Jews in America and all over the world. When you hear that, and you see what they did. It is petrifying. And the same moment, I don't see how we stay home. We have to, again, it goes to the balance. We can't let them scare us into not going out. We cannot let them. Yes, synagogues, schools, everyone needs to be extra careful. I know through my work with schools, there's extra security. We need to have caution, but we cannot let them put us in a place where we don't live. And again, it's very scary but we need to keep moving forward. So I empathize and I so understand it, but I personally am going to go outside tomorrow.

Maria  
I was just going to ask you. How are you going to spend tomorrow?

Liz  
I am going to spend tomorrow probably getting fresh air, walking around in between my work that I do inside and I'm gonna go out. And you know, I'm going to be careful. But listen, we need to keep going. And I think that everybody needs to do what is right for them. And if they choose tomorrow to stay in, I honor that. But I also feel like it's another day and it should not be that when somebody says don't go out we don't go out.

Maria  
I want to thank you so much for coming on to talk I want to tell everybody Liz's podcast or Instagram account is called The Capitol Coffee Connection podcast. And what I said I'm gonna read it again because it's very similar mission to what we do here. It's not about politics, it's about people and getting to know who—politicians, activists, whatever—who they are in their hearts. Because if we start from that place, if we get to know who people are in their hearts, regardless of their ethnicity, their heritage, the color of their skin. If we start with hearts, right, then we can find common ground. We can have different kinds of conversations and move ourselves forward. Have you found that? What is the kind of heartfelt advice you can leave us with here, Liz?

Liz  
So what I have learned through these podcasts, and, I've learned so much. I think through telling stories, we can all become closer. If you think about people, whatever you do biologically, or what we want in life, people are really the same in so many ways. It's just amazing. No matter where we are, no matter what our religion or ethnicity, we are still the same. But we have let what is a little bit different, we've let people tear us apart on those issues. So through this podcast, whether it's been an immigrant family from Eritrea, South America, Central America, Europe, or whether it's a family that had nothing, or their parents were union people or teachers—what I see is this commonality of these folks. And we try to be be part nonpartisan, I want Republicans, I want Democrats, I want people who are willing to be vulnerable. And what I have learned is the everyone has beautiful stories and people that have listened, have heard these stories. And when they hear these stories, it brings down walls, and it actually makes us come closer. I really, truly believe it and I have seen it. We're growing, it's a podcast, it takes time. Everything takes time, but what I've seen is that it's a process, but the minute you tell somebody what you and I are talking about, about bringing heart, humanity and love into the picture; that the pendulum in our country, in the world, has swung so far over—let's bring it back. That's where I go back to: we all have a role in this and everybody can do something. This podcast is sort of like a way to center ourselves and if we can, we can love our political leaders and perhaps we can put more trust into our political world. Right now we do have people that are distrustful—or like you've said—don't want to get involved. But what I've learned is these people are really doing everything they can from their heart and from their basic humanity. We have so much more in common and we need to use that to celebrate, and to find ways to come together. So I hope that helps.

Maria  
That does. That's beautiful Liz, and we'll recommend it in the Sunday paper and recommend that people go and listen to it. I love the mission. I love the purpose. And I love that you're you're trying to break down walls. That's what we need. And we need people who say like, "I get it, I'm in pain, but I'm going to keep going on." Because I've yet to meet a person who doesn't have some kind of pain, who hasn't had some kind of grief and sharing it or talking about it and moving yourself forward is how we get through it. So I want to thank you.

Liz  
Can I just say one more thing, which is people know you. You have a public profile, and you do your beautiful work. I am not that person. I have been pushed into this. I have chosen to try this. And I only bring it up because people that will be when watching now or down the line. We all can do it. I'm not born into a family like yours. I'm not on TV. I'm not a journalist. It doesn't matter. We all can play a role and that's why I bring it up, just to say thank you for bringing me here. Thank you for reaching out to me because I am scared by doing what I do. But I know there's a power in speaking out and so I want to thank you for inviting me and recognizing that I have a story and people need their stories to be told in Israel and in America.

Maria  
Thank you. Thank you for saying that. I'm proud of you. I'm sorry for what you've gone through—AND I'm sorry for what you've gone through. I believe that you have already made a difference. I watched you, I ran to get a pen to write down your name and say I need to find that woman. Thank you, you're already making a difference and stay at it, stay the course. Thank you. Thank you to all of you for joining us and listening to her. Once again, The Capitol Coffee Connection podcast. W she said is true, we all have a role. Find your purpose, your mission. You are needed. You are needed.