Florida family chooses to stay in Israel during conflict with Iran
By Ari Hait
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DELRAY BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — A family from Delray Beach that had been in Israel when the conflict with Iran started is choosing to remain in the country.
“We’ve spent three, four nights spending most of our nights in bomb shelters, going up and down to the bomb shelters with the air raid sirens,” Dr. Steven Katz said from his hotel room in Tel Aviv.
Katz, his wife, and three children have been in Israel for about three weeks.
It’s a mission trip the family takes every summer.
The first two weeks of the trip were spent doing things like volunteering on a local farm, spending time at army bases, and hosting barbecues for local soldiers.
The trip took a dramatic turn when Israel and Iran started firing rockets at each other.
“It was a little bit anxiety-provoking when it first happened, because we didn’t really know what was going on,” Katz said.
Katz said over the last week, he and his family have developed a new routine.
They might explore the city a little during the day, but make sure to be close to the hotel at night when rockets are more likely to fall.
And they always know where the closest bomb shelter is.
“You get woken up, and you have two minutes to get to the bomb shelter holding a 5-year-old going down five flights of stairs,” Katz said. “And you want to make sure you get down there, because civilians have been killed.”
Katz said he and his family could leave and return home to Delray Beach, but are choosing to stay.
In fact, he said there is nowhere else they would rather be right now than Israel.
“I do not believe that Jews are safe in Delray Beach or anywhere else in the world unless the state of Israel is strong,” Katz said. “And I am a part of that people. I am part of this conversation. And I couldn’t be more proud to be here with my family.”
Part of the Katz’s trip to Israel included them volunteering at several Jewish National Fund-USA sites.
More information on those sites and relief efforts is on the Jewish National Fund-USA website.
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