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Sydney families beg for help finding Israeli relatives feared dead

Sydney is a long way from Israel but for many locals the horror unfolding in the Middle East cuts too close, with family members and friends among the missing and dead.

Family kidnapped by Hamas

We hear Michal’s sobs before we see her. Standing in a sea of Israel supporters at a Sydney vigil, she can barely stand.

In her hands is a series of laminated photos, screenshots taken from a Hamas video. It shows two red-headed babies, cradled by their terrified mother.

In another photo is a man, surrounded by Hamas militants. One holds a hammer to his head. The man is bleeding, and the fear in his eyes is palpable.

The sign reads two words. “MY FAMILY.”

Her family. The bleeding man her beloved nephew, Yarden Bibas. The crying woman his wife Shiri Bibas, and petrified babies, sons four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir.

Michal Keshet (centre) with her daughter Shanee and husband Eltan and pictures of their family, who were kidnapped by Hamas. Picture: Julian Andrews
Michal Keshet (centre) with her daughter Shanee and husband Eltan and pictures of their family, who were kidnapped by Hamas. Picture: Julian Andrews

All are missing, kidnapped by Hamas. Michal has no idea if they are alive or dead.

Her only connection to her beloved family is this blurry video, taken by Hamas, and splashed over social media.

She showed us the screenshot of the video at the sunset gathering in Dover Heights this week, struggling to speak through her tears.

“My nephew! His little children. His wife. Her parents. It’s terrible. They were taken,” she says.

All had been living near the Gaza border in Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas militants invaded, kidnapping the entire family, including Shiri’s parents Margit Silverman and her husband, Yossi Silverman.

“She was taken with the kids, he was taken separately,” she said. “Our hearts are broken. I don’t know anything. Just that they have been taken to Gaza.

Yarden Bibas, bleeding from the head, is taken away by members of Hamas.
Yarden Bibas, bleeding from the head, is taken away by members of Hamas.

“There are no words to describe this horror. How can anybody do this to people? To civilians? To innocents!”

Michal has lived in Australia for 25 years. For the first time, she no longer feels safe.

“I don’t feel secure, I need to tell my kids to be careful.”

Her daughter, 21-year-old Shanee, tells The Weekend Telegraph she is terrified.

A still from the video of Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, frou, and Kfir, nine months, being kidnapped. None of the Bibas famlily have been heard from since.
A still from the video of Shiri Bibas and her sons Ariel, frou, and Kfir, nine months, being kidnapped. None of the Bibas famlily have been heard from since.

“It breaks my heart. I get told ‘be careful when you go into uni, be careful on the streets, don’t speak about it too loudly’.

“It is a very, very scary time. There are some horrible people in this world.”

As she speaks, a woman envelopes Michal in her arms, and cries with her.

Standing in a crowd of 1000, it is clear her pain is felt by everyone and she is surrounded by weeping people.

They might be strangers but all are family. When one person bleeds, they all bleed.

“Every Jew is family,” says university student Montana Gibson. She moved to Australia from South Africa and now calls Sydney home.

David Alia and his daughter Rachel: “She knows something has happened and people have been murdered. Picture: Julian Andrews
David Alia and his daughter Rachel: “She knows something has happened and people have been murdered. Picture: Julian Andrews
Niki and her niece Montana: ‘Everyone knows someone who is involved. We don’t know what is going to happen’ Picture: Julian Andrews
Niki and her niece Montana: ‘Everyone knows someone who is involved. We don’t know what is going to happen’ Picture: Julian Andrews

“Everyone knows someone who is involved. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

“We can’t not fight back and people are going to get hurt. And we have to just sit and wait and wonder what’s going to happen to our loved ones.

“It’s heartbreaking because people are dying on both sides. And there’s innocent people in Palestine that are going to die because of this.”

Her mother Nikki says, “every single person standing here today has been affected. They have family friends or know someone in Israel”.

Rachelle and Nathan Smith: ‘We hope that in the quickest and least horrible way, that somehow this will end. Picture: Julian Andrews
Rachelle and Nathan Smith: ‘We hope that in the quickest and least horrible way, that somehow this will end. Picture: Julian Andrews

For Sydney brothers Niv, Matan and Tal Barhom, that person is their cousin Hannan, who was one of the 260 people killed at the Re’im music festival.

Eighteen-year-old Matan is currently doing his HSC but says it is difficult to think about anything other than his cousin’s death.

“It’s a hard time. I am in Year 12 and trying to focus on everything and everything that is going on in the world

“I have to stay strong though. I have to show everyone that no matter what happens we will stay strong with our heads high and no one will bring us down,” he said.

Sydney may be 14,000km from Israel, but for Jewish Australians, it makes no difference. Everyone knows someone in Israel. All are haunted by one thought — it could have been them.

Despite the distance, many Australian Jews are scared for their safety, sparked by pro-Palestinian protests.

Evie Apfelbaum: ‘I have friends whose 80-year-old cousins have been killed, kidnapped and murdered. Picture: Julian Andrews
Evie Apfelbaum: ‘I have friends whose 80-year-old cousins have been killed, kidnapped and murdered. Picture: Julian Andrews
Itzik Sadan: ‘All we know is he was gunned down by Hamas militants, it took four days to identify him.’
Itzik Sadan: ‘All we know is he was gunned down by Hamas militants, it took four days to identify him.’

Daniel Fox moved to Australia after the war broke out in Ukraine. After watching pro-Palestinian gatherings in Sydney, he said he has been left rattled.

“I cannot believe what I am seeing on television. This is the most traumatising thing, that we have zero safety and feel unsafe here. I feel insecure and have started looking over my shoulder again.”

He said his Ukrainian friends are contacting him to ask if he is safe in Australia.

“We had people from Ukraine calling us [to check if we are okay]. People from Ukraine in the middle of a war. They find time to worry about us!” he said.

It’s a fear felt by Israeli students Amit Shtayer and Tom Shaham who moved to Australia to study. Both know people who have been killed, kidnapped or are missing.

“I’m scared all the time. After the protests where people screamed ‘gas the Jews’. It’s really sad. People should know better to separate Hamas and Palesntinans, innocent Palestinians,” he said.

Jody Kofsky, pictured with Galya Greenwald: ‘If anybody thinks the Jewish people is not a unified holy people they’re wrong. Picture: Julian Andrews
Jody Kofsky, pictured with Galya Greenwald: ‘If anybody thinks the Jewish people is not a unified holy people they’re wrong. Picture: Julian Andrews

Twenty-one-year-old Western Sydney woman Ellie, who has family in Tel Aviv, said anti-semitism is rife in Sydney and the recent attacks have only escalated her fears.

“When I was in high school I was bullied for being Jewish. They would heil me, and directly told me ‘I wish your father had died in the Holocaust’,” she said.

For grandmother Jodie Kowski, her gathering with her Jewish family is more important than ever right now.

“If anybody thinks that the Jewish people is not a unity, a unified holy people they’re wrong,” she said.

Sydney family Rachelle and Nathan Smith have family who enlisted in the Israeli army. Rachelle tells us that her nephew Toby Taube enlisted at the beginning of the year. The 21-year-old who was born in Sydney is currently on the border of Israel and Gaza.

“The last contact my sister had with him was this morning, they have had their phones taken away from them. He hadn’t slept or showered in four days,” she said.

“We just hope that in the quickest and least horrible way, with the least number of casualties, that somehow this will come to an end.”

Her voice hardens.

“I know we are going to win this. They’ve got this. They have got all of us behind them.”

Others, like 72-year-old Evie Apfelbaum, are angry.

“I have friends whose cousins have been killed, whose 80-year-old cousins have been kidnapped and murdered,” she said.

Meanwhile, 65-year-old Itzik Sadan no longer sleeps at night.

The Coogee local this week received the call no one should ever receive — his nephew, musician Ziv Sabag Shapira was gunned down and killed by Hamas militants at a music festival in southern Israel. He was just 26.

“All we know is he was gunned down by Hamas militants, it took four days for him to be identified,” Mr Sadan said.

“He cannot be buried because his hometown is under fire now, he lived 10 kilometres from Gaza all his life.

“It is shocking, he is his mother’s only child. It’s heartbreaking.”

Ziv was with his friends partying at the festival when shots began to ring out.

Those searching for Ziv said he was seen fleeing the party on the road when his car was shot at by militants.

One friend said he was seen hiding in the bushes, trying to escape the barrage of bullets.

Friends took to social media in the hours and days after desperate for any information, not knowing if their mate had survived the attack.

Sadly his family was given the worst answer.

Mr Sadan has a large Israeli family, with eight brothers and sisters and many nephews and nieces currently living in the country.

“This will affect the Jewish people for the next 50 years,” Mr Sadan said.

“It will never happen again — that’s what the Jewish people said after the holocaust — and we can never let this happen again, there will be no more Hamas.

“I was a soldier, and I’m very confident of that.”

In her Sydney home, Michal calls her family in Israel and speaks to her niece Ofri, brother of Yarden.

She connects The Saturday Telegraph to the call.

When Ofri speaks to us, her voice shakes. She is haunted by the video of her brother and his family.

“It’s the only thing I can see. It is going through my head all the time. Every time I see the pictures I look at my brother’s face and he looks so terrified. So scared.

“You can feel it as you walk around.

“Israel is bleeding.”

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Read related topics:Israel Conflict

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sydney-families-beg-for-help-finding-israeli-relatives-feared-dead/news-story/abbdc51fcd21189f9134689f9c7ab47e