Terror in our City – 15 Jan 2024

15 January 2024

TLDR 

Today there was a violent, murderous terrorist attack in the city that we are currently living in (Ra’anana, Israel).  My wife and six-month old son are, thankfully, fine. I do not yet know if friends of ours are among those injured or killed.

Full Note 

I am filled with many emotions.  Today in the early afternoon, depraved terrorists rampaged through an ordinary, peaceful suburb of Tel Aviv which my family has called home for the last few months and attacked at least 18 people.

My wife was supposed to be having lunch with her girlfriend in the city center – she could have been there.  Her friend had a flat tire so they rescheduled.  They are both safe, they were both at home.

My six-month-old son could have been on a walk with me – we could have been there.  We are both safe, we were at home.

But many are not safe. 17 are on their way to hospitals for urgent care – because fanatics who chant “Intifada!” and “From the river to the sea!” came with the intent to kill innocent Israelis.  At least one is dead. Jewish or not – by being on Israeli soil, they were targets.

Even after all that we’ve been through these last few months, this one, quite literally, hit especially close to home. I still don’t understand this baseless hatred for our people.  I also do not understand how the entire world does not demand that all Palestinians denounce terrorism against civilians.

Epilogue

I am currently renting a car.  About 30 minutes after the attack I got a phone call from the car rental company – checking in on me and my family since they knew our location – to make sure we were safe.  What kind of country does one need to live in for this to happen?  I ask my friends around the world, do any of your rental companies or other service providers call you during an emergency event to check in on you?  I would imagine the companies do not have protocols for a terrorist event like this.