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Thousands of Israeli military reservists and former soldiers living in New York City have packed up their bags to join the fight against terrorists intent on wiping the Jewish state off the map.
Since Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 terrorist attack, more than 3,000 IDF reservists have been called up from across the United States to fight for Israel, with 2,000 alone coming from the Big Apple, according to Itay Milner, a spokesman for the Israeli consulate in New York.
Three days after Hamas slaughtered 1,400 people in Israel, Ariel Nurieli didn’t think twice about ditching his math and political science coursework at Columbia University to reenlist in the Israeli Defense Forces.
“People say, ‘Wow you left everything behind’ . . . but if we don’t do this there won’t be anything to come back to,” Nurieli, 25, told The Post from the frontlines of the country’s northern region, as a ground invasion of Gaza looms.
Nurieli, a Miami native and former IDF officer, recalled saying goodbyes to friends who stopped at his apartment before heading to the airport and packing a pair of photos of him and loved ones at weddings. Ahead of his flight, his father told him over the phone he was proud of him.
“We have to make sure there’s a place that will always welcome the Jewish people, no matter what,” he said.
A number of New Yorkers preparing to head into the battlefield said they were driven in part by the soaring anti-Israel and antisemitic hate that has plagued the city in recent weeks.
“There’s no doubt that being in New York, it was like being in a war without a weapon on you,” said Lihi, a 24-year-old Columbia student and IDF reservist and native of Tel Aviv.
Lihi, who is stationed at Israel’s northern border as the operations head for an elite commander unit, said she ironically feels “the most secure” on the front lines, having been chased on New York City streets for speaking her native Hebrew to her mother and attacked for posting signs of civilians kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.
The antisemitic atmosphere permeating her campus and the city “was the trigger to be back home,” she said, adding many of her Columbia friends today are scared to leave their apartments and are even suffering panic attacks.
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The antisemitic atmosphere permeating her campus and the city “was the trigger to be back home,” she said, adding many of her Columbia friends today are scared to leave their apartments and are even suffering panic attacks.
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Others, such as IDF reservist Ayal Yakobe, dove headlong into the Israel-Hamas war despite being given a clear option to stay home.
Even though his IDF platoon officer said his unit was full, Yakobe, 25, couldn’t fathom sitting on his couch while letting others fight, and asked his mom to book him a flight Saturday night to Tel Aviv to join the 55th Paratroopers Brigade.
“This was something that if I didn’t do now, I was gonna think about for the rest of my life,” Yakobe said, explaining that he left behind two jobs — as a lab worker at Columbia and caring for disabled men at a living-assistance home.
“This is a really big turning point,” he said. “If we’re able to pull this off . . . we can either make greater peace in the region or greater war in the region, and I’m excited about the prospect of greater peace.”