The war in the Middle East raging for nearly a year and a half is a world away for most American, but an Israeli mother is sharing her loss with local Jews. She spoke with students at Milwaukee Jewish Day School, well before the announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza which she hopes will ultimately bring all of the hostages still held by Hamas, home. Kalanit Kaslasi’s son, Ido, was killed shortly after the October 7th, 2023 attack.
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Kalanit and her husband, Eli, have three sons. All were in the Israeli Defense Forces. Ido, found himself in a firefight with Hamas terrorists, shortly after the initial attack. “There was a fierce, you know, a very hard battle. Around 60 minutes,” Kalanit told WTMJ. “Two of Ido’s platoon mates, died on the spot. A lot of them got injured. There was face to face combat going on.”
Ido was shot, but his mother says he worked to evacuate other injured soldiers first. He later died at the hospital. “They got him to the operation and probably was too late and the doctor could not save him. He saved many of his platoon mates and many of the civilians.”
Reaching a ceasefire agreement has always hinged on a promise that Hamas would release all remaining hostages, taken on October 7th. Kalanit agrees, it’s necessary for her family, for her country, for her people, to move forward. “We cannot start processing what’s going on with us, or healing, until we get all the hostages back. It’s very, very important for us, as a society, as a people. My perspective is, on that morning, it was a Jewish holiday, and we were all together. It was silent, and then it started. We didn’t start this. We’re protecting our people. We’re protecting our civilians.”
Protests in Milwaukee, on college campuses across the U.S. and the world over, suggest the Israeli military has not done enough to protect civilian life in Gaza. The sharpest accusations are that of genocide against the Palestinian people. Kalanit believes that is not in the hearts and minds of people like her sons who serve in the IDF. “I know for my sons, they hold nothing against the Palestinian people. They hold against the Hamas people. They understand the Palestinian people, the families, also have a hard time from Hamas. I think, I know, I know they do everything they can to stay human and to treat other humans with dignity and honor and empathy, because they’re regular Israeli boys and girls.”
All Israeli citizens, with some exceptions, are required to serve in the military for a period, though not all in combat roles. Kalanit believes the anti-Israel protests across the world gave legitimacy and strength to Hamas, not to the Palestinian people. She prays for a lasting peace, but regardless of recent developments, will fear for the foreseeable future, that it may not hold.
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