Iris and David Jacobson of Evanston woke Saturday to the news of Hamas militants orchestrating a surprise attack on Israel, and their thoughts immediately went to their two adult children living in Israel.
“It’s shocking to Israel and to the world, and it’s very difficult having two children, a daughter-in-law and a grandchild on the way living there,” Iris Jacobson said. “These are American children who love Israel, and it’s their choice to live there.”
Their son is an Israel Defense Forces reservist who was called into active service on the West Bank on Saturday. His wife is four and a half months pregnant.
Their daughter also lives in Israel in a small town between Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Both are shaken but safe, Iris Jacobson said, asking that their names not be published over concerns for their safety.
“This is also sad that it’s just a cycle,” David Jacobson said. “And the saddest part is Gaza had an opportunity to have a wonderful and beautiful place for their citizens to live. These poor, innocent Gazans are going to die. It’s just tragic that innocent people are dying and are going to die on both sides who don’t want to die. They just want peace.”
Defending the attacks as “legitimate,” the U.S. Palestinian Community Network of Chicago said in a written statement they were in self-defense in response to Israeli occupation and violence in the Gaza Strip.
“Palestinians have an internationally recognized right to resist illegal military occupation, and today’s attacks from the Palestinian resistance should be understood as a legitimate response to unending violence from Israel’s extreme right-wing, racist, white supremacist, zionist government and settler movement,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, the national chair of the group, who lives in the Chicago area.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war following the attacks, which marked the deadliest assault on the country in years. At least 200 people were killed and 1,100 wounded in Israel, while 198 were dead in a retaliatory strike on the Gaza Strip that wounded at least 1,610 more, authorities reported.
Saturday’s attacks came during the two-day Jewish holiday Simchat Torah and nearly 50 years to the day after Israel faced another surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday on the Jewish calendar.
Simchat Torah is meant to be a joyous celebration in the Jewish faith, said Jay Tcath, executive vice president of Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.
“It’s a holiday of festive celebration and dancing,” Tcath said. “And, on top of that, it’s layered by the supposed peacefulness and restfulness of Shabbat. That adds another disorienting disconnect from events that are happening in Israel. And folks are unsure of how to celebrate what’s supposed to be a celebratory holiday.”
Tcath said he wasn’t aware of any threats to Chicago-area synagogues following news of the attack, but he said he’s confident they have solid security plans.
“Chicago Jews are experiencing this on a macro level — our solidarity, our sense of affinity and shared destiny with the Jewish state of Israel,” Tcath said. “There are also tens of thousands of Jewish Chicagoans with family in Israel. And so there’s an extra layer of concern and tremendous anxiety that Chicago Jews are experiencing.”
Elected leaders across the Chicago area condemned the attacks.
“In Illinois and across America, the people of Israel are in our prayers,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.
“My heart goes out to the people of Israel as they face these horrific, unconscionable and ongoing coordinated Hamas attacks and kidnappings on Simchat Torah,” said U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said the “horrific cycle of violence and trauma must end. It’s time for a just and lasting peace that recognices the humanity of our Israeli and Palestinian siblings, and the right to prosperity for future generations.”
North Shore U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Illinois, said, “Hamas started this war. Israel, with the full support of its allies, can and will defend her people, their communities and the country.”
North suburban U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois, said, “Everyone has the right to feel safe, and every country has the right to protect its people. “Israelis shouldn’t have to fear for their lives simply because of where they live.”
