Israel war: Australian-Israelis join fight against Hamas
Australian-Israelis are joining the fight against Hamas saying it’s “not an option when my people are dying”. See who’s going.
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Australian-Israeli Ella Gelbard was holidaying, carefree, on the stunning volcanic Greek island of Milos, when her call to arms arrived.
Her Israel Defence Forces commander wasn’t telling her she needed to return to her military reserve unit — quite the opposite.
But staying put and doing nothing didn’t feel right, so she called her father.
“At first I was feeling guilty I couldn’t get back” said Gelbard, originally from Sydney’s Rose Bay.
“I rang my father and asked him to make the decision for me, he was worried, naturally, and said he would rather I didn’t go but I would have to decide for myself.”
She did, and quickly, reasoning: “Israel had protected me from wars before and now it’s my turn to protect them”.
“I thought to myself ‘I’m ready for war’, I called my commander and said ‘find me a place’.
“I cried … It was not an easy decision to make, my parents are very worried, and I am, too.”
The 21-year-old arrives in Israel on Monday to take up her post as a communication devices technician.
She does not yet know whether she will be deployed to the Gaza Strip or the Israel-Lebanon border.
“I don’t care even if I’m drafted onto the front line, to stay safe and continue holidaying in Greece is not an option when my people are dying,” she said.
“My family thinks I’m crazy and my uncle and grandmother in Sydney have sent messages saying they’re thinking of me.
“Everyone keeps telling me to be safe and not to do it but I have no option. I’ll have a weapon but I’m hoping it will just be for self defence.”
Gelbard is one of more than 300,000 reservists to be drafted in since Hamas’ wave of terror began on October 7, killing 1300 people.
Most fighters are Israeli but there is an international flavour too — including dozens of Australians.
Josh Hakim, a biotech engineering student who left Sydney for Beersheba in 2016, is working 12-hour-a-day shifts with his old army unit, the Golani infantry brigade, on the border with Lebanon.
He had spent much of the past month visiting family in Sydney and was relaxing on a beach in Bali on the way back home when the Israeli Defence Force’s Home Front Command came knocking.
“They just told me ‘you need to come home’, that I was needed for my country,” he said of the tzav shmoneh, an “Order 8” emergency call-up notice.
Indonesia’s deserted Gili Trawangan Island could not contrast more now with the 26-year-old’s new base.
Deadly, but so far sporadic, clashes with Hezbollah have already erupted, on the border but he is cautiously “excited” about the challenge.
“Israel is different right now, the roads are empty, I’m driving alongside trucks and there are no people around,” he said.
“I’m excited to be back in Israel and to see my old friends.
“Excited might not be the right word, there is some apprehension, I can’t pretend, but I want to do this.
“The situation up north with Lebanon is volatile and could kick off any second, but I need to protect the Israeli community from Hezbollah.
“To not do anything is worse. What happened on the Gaza-Israeli border is the biggest atrocity since the Holocaust. I need to protect my people.”
His mother and sister in Sydney’s Dover Heights, and brother, in Cairns, Queensland, keep messaging to ask if he is safe.
“I don’t know what to expect,” said Hakim.
“My mother keeps texting me saying ‘I’m proud of you, I pray for your safety’.”
Israeli infantry and artillery units are digging in along the country’s northern border with Lebanon, reinforcing a stretch of frontier that could become a second front if Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launch broader attacks, as warned.
“If Hezbollah terrorists … enter, it’s bad news for Israel,” Hakim said.
“Their arsenal of missiles can strike Tel Aviv.”
Hakim has never served in a war but has guarded the Gaza and Lebanese borders.
Other Australian-Israelis join the counteroffensive include Australian lawyer Lisa Segelov’s three children.
Tomer Shevel, 22, has been called up as an operations officer, Avi Shevel, 27, is deployed in a specialist tank unit, while Lior Shevel, 19, finishes her compulsory service with the Israel Defence Force (IDF).
“I’m a mother on tender hooks praying my children make it to the other side, Ms Segelov, who left Rose Bay, Sydney, for Tel Aviv in 1988, said.
“Three of my four kids are with the IDF and I have to wait to hear from them to contact me, I can’t call them, the IDF have their phones.
“I’m desperately worried, I try to block it all out and take it day by day, trying not to watch too much news on the television.
“It’s a very tough, nerve wracking situation. My daughter called me the other day and said her friend had been killed.
“My belief is we will contain the situation and all will be OK, I have to believe that if I want to see my children again.”
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