'Life went on' after missile attack by Iran, Canadians in Israel say

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OTTAWA — Life just went on.

That’s how many Israelis reacted after Tuesday’s unprecedented Iranian missile attack that sent hundreds of projectiles into the skies above Israel — an attack largely neutered by Israel’s Iron Dome and support from the United States navy.

For Canadians living in Israel, however, the attack — one of countless endured by its citizens over the years — was but a minor speedbump in a normal day preparing for the upcoming holidays.

Canadian Gil Abrahami arrived at their home in Netanya, about 20 km north of Tel Aviv on Tuesday, just hours ahead of the attack.

“We got to our place about 5:30 p.m. and unpacked,” he told the Toronto Sun. 

Feeling hungry and jet lagged, he and his wife were eating dinner at a restaurant when the sirens sounded.

“Everyone’s out with their cameras facing the sky and then you start seeing orange lights in the sky above your head,” he said.

“You see what’s coming in from the north, and you see Iron Dome intercepting it.”

Reactions to the attack, he said, were mixed.

“People were running to shelters, some were getting out of their cars, while others were like us — eating our falafel and watching what’s going on,” Abrahami said.

The pair eventually found shelter in the loading dock of a nearby store.

While some buildings were either damaged or destroyed, the attack only managed to kill one person — a Palestinian man died when a downed Iranian missile fell on him near Jericho in the West Bank.

Born in Toronto, Michael Mazeika came to Israel over a decade ago to coach hockey and ended up sticking around.

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While originally from Metula, Israel’s northernmost city bordering Lebanon and a short distance from Syria, the family was uprooted after Oct. 7 and are currently housed in the Golan Heights — their fourth home since the attacks.

Mazeika was outside of their home with his two young children when the attack began.

“My son was playing in our yard with a hockey stick shooting a ball, when all of the sudden we’re looking at Iron Dome go into action,” he said.

“Ten seconds later, the rocket sirens started blaring.”

Israel’s been under a near-constant state of alert since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which saw Hamas terrorists conduct a brutal campaign of murder, kidnappings and sexual assault against innocent Israeli men, women and children.

But despite Tuesday’s unprecedented attack, things promptly returned to normal, Abrahami said.

“Once it was over, everyone just went back into the store. This guy’s buying cigarettes, we’re buying our supplies,” he said.

“People are coming in for whatever they needed. Life went on.”

Like Abrahami, Mazeika said the attacks did little to derail Israelis preparing for Rosh Hashanah.

“These are the times that our enemies likes to attack us, when we’re in our celebration moments,” Mazeika said.

“Oct. 7 happened during Simchat Torah, the happiest of holidays just after Sukkot, so when these holidays come it’s very surreal — on one hand you want to be happy, be with family and forget things for a moment, but at the same time we have to be on very high alert because these are the times when they try to strike us.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
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