Boynton Beach woman vows to stay in Israel and help

By Ari Hait

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    BOYNTON BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — A Palm Beach County native now living in Israel said she has no plans to leave the country.

Twenty-four-year-old Marci Hartman grew up in Boynton Beach and moved to Israel about a year and a half ago.

For the last week, she’s been living through a war.

“I can’t sleep. I can barely eat. I can’t function,” Hartman said. “I don’t have work. It’s terrible.”

Hartman said she had to leave her home in Herzliya because she doesn’t have a bomb shelter, a necessity in a world where terrorist attacks are a reality.

“Women and children and innocent families have died,” Hartman said. “For what? People have come into their houses and killed them.”

Hartman spends her days looking for ways to help.

She volunteers to pack boxes of supplies for soldiers, spreads awareness of what is happening and how to donate, and prays.

“It’s scary not knowing who you’re going to see next who died,” Hartman said. “Every single day, I’m checking to see if a friend or a family member or someone I know has died.”

Hartman could leave if she wanted to.

She could return to her sisters and her parents in Boynton Beach.

But she is adamant that is not going to happen.

“I want to stand with my people. I don’t just want to leave and go back to America,” Hartman said. “Even if I have the option, I don’t want to do that, because this is where I belong. These are my people, and I don’t want to leave my people.

“This is who we are. They can’t wipe us out. We’re Israel. We are Jewish people, and no matter what happens, we are here to stay. We’re not going anywhere.”

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