Fourth part. –
Although most of the inhabitants of Kibbutz Or HaNer in southern Israel were evacuated following the Hamas attacks on October 7, Eduardo Polonsky, a Jewish-Argentine rancher, has refused to leave; and two months after the tragedy, he does not hide his disappointment with those who govern Israel.
His entire family has left and left him in Or HaNer. The man refuses to abandon his home, his crops and his cows.
“I am a farmer, a rancher. I’m not a superhero. I love life. The riskiest thing I do is ride a motorcycle. Although I am part of the army reserve, my style is not to walk around with a long gun.”
On the second day after Hamas attacks on Israel’s southern border, on October 8, the Israeli army gave the order to evacuate.
Around 500 people were evacuated from kibbutzim in the south of the country, and from some communities in the north. Most were taken to hotels.
“The people who work in milk production stay. Can’t stop. “We continue creating life.”
The picturesque Kibbutz Or HaNer, located two and a half kilometers from the Gaza Strip, was saved from being attacked, thanks to the fact that the rapid response unit confronted around 40 terrorists in Kibbutz Erez, which prevented them from reaching Or HaNer .
“On the night of October 6, we went out to dinner with my wife, who I have been married to for 23 years, and my children. We had a great time. We went to sleep at three in the morning, at 6:30 in the morning the alarm went off. “My lady dragged me to the bunker, the safe room of the house.”
From there, they could hear the explosions of the shells.
“When I went back to bed, I told my wife that I heard machine gun shots and automatic weapons, and it was not normal. When we got up, my oldest son, 40 years old, is part of the kibbutz first response team, he told me that there was a special situation, we didn’t know what was happening.”
After 10 minutes they were told over the radio that the Erez kibbutz next door had been invaded by Hamas; and a member of the first response team, had died and two were injured.
“They had no chance of stopping the offensive, and we knew that if they passed it, they would come here. Our first response commander sent four members to try to stop the offensive and fortunately they were able to stop it. “There was a lot of luck.”
The hardest thing – remembers Eduardo – was the murder of the mayor due to a projectile that was thrown at his house to blow it up. “I had offered to help him, but he didn’t answer me when I called him. Seven minutes later, a journalist asked me if it was true that they had killed him. Find out yes.”
Delay
Almost two months after the tragedy, Eduardo says that he honestly does not remember what happened on October 7.
“In my memory is what my wife told me.”
What he is clear about and regrets is the slowness of the army to defend them.
“It took about 16, 17 hours to see the first members of the army in the kibbutz who theoretically should have defended us. Until October 7, the prowess and greatness of the Israeli army were told in the world; since that Saturday I cannot give the same answer.
“Since that Saturday it is very difficult for me to believe in those who theoretically should give us security. Today, the question remains what happened; and there are only two options: someone did not want to be here; or was it the arrogance of the army”.
They only counted on the Kibbutz defense group for their protection, who are all civilians.
“There are no members of these groups who are military or have special training, who has an idea that they are superheroes, that is not us.”
‘My country failed me’
Eduardo echoes the sentiment of many Israelis, saying that he feels disappointed in Israel.
“My country failed me. My way of life and my thoughts became a fable and stupidity”.
He clarifies that he is not disappointed in the soldiers, whom he calls exceptional young men, but in those who represent and lead the country.
“Politicians like diapers, they have to be changed every so often because they are full of shit”.
A survey released this month by the Lazar Institute revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity continues to decline, with just 31% approving of his job amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Eduardo says that he has many friends in Gaza and keeps their phones, but he cannot call them because those who worked in the kibbutzim entered together with Hamas soldiers to kill them, rob them and rape the women.
“There is a phone call in which one of the terrorists is heard telling his family that he has already killed 12 Jews with his own hands, and in which he says that he is a hero.”
War is not the solution
Eduardo says that he is aware that war solves nothing.
“You cannot kill every last Hamas soldier who fights for erroneous ideals different from ours. This has to end differently. War has to create guidelines so that someone in the world realizes that this has to have a different intervention.
“Someone in the world has to realize that there are no good guys and bad guys, that here there is a people that needs help to be liberated, I am talking about the people of Gaza, a people that will not be able to liberate themselves by their own means.”
Back to normal?
The farmer and rancher says that after the Hamas attacks, he cannot give himself the freedom to receive his grandchildren or eat a barbecue with his family at home.
Alone in his home he states: “I don’t know when I’ll be able to do it. “I don’t know when they will feel safe coming back to this area.”
Six days after the Hamas attacks, Rommy, Eduardo’s eighth granddaughter, was born. “I’ve only seen it twice.”
In war and low missiles, he says he is trying to get back to normal.
“Between the noises that we send and those that they send, I look for some kind of normality; And then, one day I found myself alone making barbecue, and the smell of the barbecue reminds me of normality.”.
And after a brief reflection, he stated that the ideology of all Israelis is not to let themselves be defeated.
“If they beat us, they kill us.”
The kibbutzim
Eduardo says that a kibbutz today is like a closed neighborhood, with the difference that in addition to the houses, they have businesses and the economy is communal, not communist.
“We share the profits equally. Although each one receives his salary according to what he works for.”
Four million liters of milk are produced per year at Kibbutz Or Haner. They have a carrot sorting plant, and they produce 70% of the carrots consumed in the country, in addition to exporting to Russia.
“We grow wheat, barley, cotton, and we have a broiler chicken farm. We have the restaurant Patagonia that prepares 4,700 portions of food per day for sale outside; and we own a factory of intelligent rivets for heavy manufacturing, of which we sell 95% abroad.”
Before the Hamas attacks, about 900 people lived in Kibbutz Or HaNer.
Eduardo says that agriculture in Israel is worked by Thais who arrive in the country with a five-year work contract.
“About 40 Thais were murdered on Saturday, October 7. They thought that the passport was going to save them from this disaster; and those who did not kill while they were sleeping, they took as prisoners.”
*This series of reports is possible thanks to a fellowship from Fuente Latina, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded and directed by Leah Soibel. It has offices in Miami and Mexico City. Fuente Latina’s mission is to remove linguistic and geographic barriers, empowering journalists and influencers to cover stories about Israel and the Middle East. For more than 11 years, Fuente Latina has awarded fellowships to more than 350 Hispanic media professionals from 12 countries. The news reports generated through these trips have resulted in two Emmy Awards, and an Associated Press Award, among other recognitions.